Table 11: Acquisition of Swedish nationality by stateless children, by notification pursuant to Section 7 of the Act on Swedish Citizenship, during the years 2009 to 2015224 Notifications, Section 7 Year Notifications Decisions Grants Grants percentage 2009 164 161 141 88 2010 165 149 108 72 2011 273 211 161 76 2012 285 250 207 83 2013 236 338 264 78 2014 287 276 207 75 2015 2,357 2,049 1,795 88 The number of notifications made each year by stateless children pursuant to Section 7 of the Act on Swedish Citizenship has been similar in numbers to those made in accordance with Section 6. However, the numbers have been relatively small, until 2015 when a marked increase was noted, when 4,664 children were registered as stateless according to Table 2 in Section 2.2.2.1, while notifications were submitted in respect of 2,357 stateless children. Between 72-88 per cent of the notifications have led to granting of citizenship. UNHCR has not, within the scope of this research, examined closer the proportion of stateless children born outside of Sweden and the number of these children who acquire Swedish citizenship through notification pursuant to Section 7 of the Act on Swedish Citizenship. Nor has UNHCR investigated the reasons for rejections of applications. UNHCR considers that it would be interesting if further research was conducted into the proportion of children born stateless outside of Sweden who utilize the possibility to obtain citizenship through notification. UNHCR recommends examining the reasons behind the high number of children, as well as adults, registered as stateless and born in Sweden, to assess whether, for example, there is a limited awareness about the notification procedure or if there are other reasons for the comparatively low number of acquisitions of citizenship by notification. As the responsibility under Article 1(1) of the 1961 Convention to grant its nationality to a person born on the territory who would otherwise be stateless, is non-discretionary, it is important to understand why so many persons concerned have not benefitted from this right. Already in 2005, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) highlighted this issue in its third report on Sweden, and made a recommendation for investigation of the matter.225 Since then, the SMA has enhanced its efforts to inform immigrants of this possibility, as noted by ECRI in its fourth report on Sweden in September 2012.226 In that report, ECRI noted that “According to the authorities, the relatively low number of notifications may be explained by the fact that parents opt for naturalization at the same time to ensure that the whole family has the same nationality (or nationalities).” However, another reason for the high number of persons remaining stateless could be the different approaches of the Swedish Tax Agency and the SMA in regard to the assessment of nationality, or lack thereof. The fact that a high number of young children born in Sweden are registered with “unknown” nationality (see Table 9, especially for the year 2015) is noted in this regard. As mentioned in Section 3.3.2.2 above, under the heading Establishing statelessness of a child for the purpose of acquiring Swedish citizenship by notification, the SMA conducts an independent assessment of a child’s statelessness when a notification for acquisition of 224 Ibid. 225 European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, Third Report on Sweden, CRI(2005)26, 17 December 2004, recommendation no. 14 stated “ECRI encourages the Swedish authorities to continue their efforts to inform non-citizens about the requirements for gaining Swedish citizenship and to investigate the reasons why few children who fulfil the residency requirements take up Swedish citizenship.” Report available at: http://goo.gl/cqIE32. 226 European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, Fourth Report on Sweden, CRI(2012)46, 25 September 2012, para. 22, available at: https://goo.gl/iGcCuk. UNHCR STOCKHOLM, 2016 65