Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council

The Organization for Aid to Refugees (OPU), the European Network on Statelessness (ENS) and the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI) make this joint submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), on the right to a nationality and human rights challenges pertaining to statelessness in the Czech Republic. [...] 23 Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, International Protection in the Czech Republic, annual statistical overview, 2019; Czech Statistical Office, Foreigners in the Czech Republic (Annual Report), 2019 - data up to 31.12.2019; Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, International Protection in the Czech Republic, Annual Statistic Overview, Data up to 31.12.2020. [...] However, shortly after the entry into force of the amendment, a national case reiterated the necessity of preserving the analogy with the asylum procedure, regardless of whether the statelessness procedure is formally regulated under the Asylum Act or the Immigration Act.31. [...] The duty to facilitate naturalisation of stateless persons defined in Article 32 of the 1954 Convention is included in the Citizenship Act and is formulated in the same way as in the case of recognised refugees. [...] In practice, the police justify the ineffectiveness of alternative measures by the risk of non-respect of the removal decision.44 Alternatives vary depending on the type of detention (deportation, Dublin transfer, asylum seekers) and include stay at an address designated by the Immigration Police, regular reporting to the Immigration Police, and obligation to stay at the asylum reception centre.45.