CONVENTION RELATING TO THE STATUS OF ... - Refworld

Article 26
Freedom of movement
Each Contracting State shall accord to stateless persons lawfully in its territory the right
to choose their place of residence and to move freely within its territory, subject to any
regulations applicable to aliens generally in the same circumstances.
1. This article did not provoke any particular discussion in the Conference. However, the
Dutch representative indicated that his Government wishes to reserve the right, for purposes of
public order, to assign certain places of residence to stateless persons, while the representative
of Turkey stated that the right of stateless persons to choose the place of their residence was
contrary to Turkish law and his Government might therefore enter a reservation.
The inclusion of this article was adopted by 16 votes to none, with 1 abstention. 179
2. The intent of Article 26 is to assimilate stateless persons to “aliens in general”. This was
considered sufficient because free residence and movement are ordinarily granted all aliens but
in some cases certain restrictions may exist (for instance, they may need a special licence to
move to overcrowded places or to go to restricted areas).
As in the case of Article 18, the only requirement is that of being in the country legally, but,
as explained in connection with Article 18, it depends on the status of aliens in the state
concerned as to what rights stateless persons will enjoy under Article 26.
A question which was raised in connection with Article 21 of the Ad Hoc Committee’s draft
(which corresponds to this article) related to refugees who entered a country under a
labour contract system or group settlement scheme which frequently required the refugees
to give a pledge that they would remain in a particular job for a certain period of time.
180 The view was expressed that such requirements do not conflict with freedom of
movement. 181 It is to be assumed that the same is applicable to stateless persons who are
not refugees.
Article 27
Identity papers
The Contracting States shall issue identity papers to any stateless person in their territory
who does not possess a valid travel document.
1. There was quite a lively discussion in the conference on Article 27. Opinions differed
regarding the persons to whom the papers should be issued, what these papers actually were
and what their nature was. Some representatives felt that identity papers should not be issued to
every state less person but only to those having a residence in the country. Others thought that a
distinction should be made between identity papers which could be issued to anyone who
happens to be staying in the country and travel papers which should be given to residents only.
Still others felt that Article 27 referred to provisional identity papers only, as contrasted with final
identity papers. There was no definite decision one way or another, 182 but the Australian and
French representatives felt that the article as drafted by the Refugee Conference should not be
changed and that it referred to both provisional and final papers.
The article was approved by 18 votes to none with two abstentions. 183
179 SR.8, p. 2.
180 E/AC.32/SR.15, para. 80. Cf. Footnote 143 above.
181 SR.11, p. 16. The provision of Article 26 would also not conflict with the special situation where stateless persons have
to be accommodated in special camps or in special areas even if this does not apply to aliens generally
182 The Yugoslav representative thought that it should be left for each country to interpret it according to its own legislation
183 SR.8, pp. 2-4.