Statelessness in Czechia | January 2024 3 In this guide we use the following terms as defined below. Citizen/national: these terms are used to mean the same thing, i.e. a legal bond between a person and a State, which usually allows an unrestricted right of residence on the territory, full civil and political rights, access to national identity and travel documents, and the ability to freely leave and return to the territory. Own country/home country/country of former habitual residence: these terms refer to a country in which a stateless person was born or has previously lived. Habitual residence means stable, factual residence, which covers ‘those stateless persons who have been granted permanent residence, and also applies to individuals without a residence permit who are settled in a country, having been there for a number of years, who have an expectation of on-going residence there’.1 Host country: refers to a country in which a stateless person lives and is seeking to be recognised and granted residence, protection status, and/or nationality. In situ statelessness (vs migratory statelessness): in situ statelessness refers to the situation in which a person is stateless even though they have long-established ties to a country, often because they have long-term residence or were born in that country. Generally, their statelessness is the result of issues in the framing and/or implementation of nationality laws, and they should be recognised as nationals of this country (if they wish this). This contrasts with migratory statelessness, which refers to statelessness that occurs as a cause or a consequence of displacement, usually amongst people who have migrated from one country to another (or their children); the preferred remedy for them may be recognition and protection as stateless people and/or acquisition of the nationality of the host country. Jus soli citizenship/birthright citizenship: citizenship that is acquired as a result of being born on the territory of a State. In some countries, acquisition of citizenship may be dependent on other conditions, such as one parent having lawful residence in the country (restricted jus soli). Jus sanguinis citizenship: citizenship that is acquired based on the citizenship of a person’s parents or ancestors. Asylum-seeker: refers to a person who is requesting asylum or another form of international protection, usually because they fear persecution or serious harm. Many asylum-seekers are refugees but have not yet been recognised as such. Refugee: under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who has a ‘well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.’ 1 See UNHCR Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons (2014), Para 139 (hereinafter ‘UNHCR’s Statelessness Handbook’).