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Context
Czechia is a party to both the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. However, it maintains reservations to Articles 27 and 28 of the 1954 Convention as it pertains to the issuance of identity and travel documents to stateless persons.
The country’s stateless population is linked to migration, predominantly from former Soviet and Yugoslav countries. According to official statistics of the Ministry of the Interior (MoI), there were 610 stateless persons residing regularly in Czechia as of June 2024. However, the actual number is likely higher as individuals without regular status and applicants for the status of stateless persons are not included in this statistic.
In 2015, the first reference to the statelessness determination procedure (SDP) was introduced in national legislation under the Asylum Act, where it mentioned that the MoI decides on applications submitted under the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons without further specifying the procedure. Despite a low level of legal certainty and information on the process, some applications were lodged and Czech courts developed relevant case law underlining that, pending determination of statelessness, applicants enjoy similar rights and obligations to asylum-seekers, in line with UNHCR recommendations. Procedural aspects of the asylum process should also be applied by analogy in the absence of specific legislation. These court rulings were only partially acknowledged by the authorities to the extent that legal status of applicants was acknowledged but not the other rights. Recognized stateless individuals were granted a “visa for tolerated stay,” rather than permits for a longer duration, such as permanent residence conferred to recognized refugees, as recommended by UNHCR.
Two key amendments have modified and developed the SDP since 2021. The first was the transfer to the SDP provision from the Asylum Act to the Aliens Act. In July 2023, another amendment to the Aliens Act introduced a more comprehensive legal framework for the procedure and status of applicants as well as some procedural safeguards. The amendment also grants recognized stateless individuals access to the public health insurance system and provides them with the same rights and access to the labor market as permanent residents. Despite these improvements, practical challenges persist. Both stateless persons and relevant authorities often lack sufficient information, creating barriers to fully realizing these rights. Moreover, other key protection measures, such as secure residence permits, a facilitated pathway to naturalization and issuance of travel documents, have yet to be incorporated into the national legislative framework, leaving important gaps in the overall protection of stateless persons.