5 | PROTECTING STATELESS PERSONS FROM ARBITRARY DETENTION IN POLAND INTRODUCING THE INTERVIEWEES Mr B is an orphan from Rwanda. His parents, both Rwandan nationals, were killed when he was a child and he has never had any identity documents. Without any knowledge about his origins and exact place of birth, he moved to Tanzania and then to Europe. Finally he came to Poland. The lack of identity documents led to his detention, following which he applied for asylum. With no travel documents and having had his asylum claim rejected, the Court subsequently prolonged his detention in the Guarded Centre (a closed immigration detention facility) with a view to deportation. As his identity was not confirmed he spent the maximum period of 12 months in detention. Mr C is a middle-aged man from Pakistan born to Pakistani parents. He lived his whole life believing that he was Pakistani, however after he came to Europe his passport was destroyed and he was placed in detention while the authorities attempted to confirm his identity. Due to the fact that his asylum claim was rejected while being in the guarded centre, he spent the maximum period of 12 months in detention as the state attempted to remove him. However, no travel document was issued to him within one year by the Pakistani Diplomatic Post and he was finally released from the Guarded Centre. Mr G is a foundling from Kyrgyzstan who never knew his parents and was not documented. After he turned 18, he travelled all over Europe and five years ago decided to stay permanently in Poland. He was apprehended by border guards for possessing a false travel document and was detained. However, as a result of the Court proceedings he was allowed to establish his identity by way of a declaration, and he was able to obtain a Polish birth certificate. After this, the authorities initiated return proceedings against him, and the courts applied alternatives to detention for his case. Mr. G. has been in a marital relationship with a foreigner living in Poland, but he has not been able to get a civil marriage license. He also has no right to work and no access to medical care. Mr. G suffers from terminal cancer. Mr I was born in the mid-1960s in Winnica in what was then the USSR and is now Ukraine. He arrived in Poland on his USSR passport, legally, where he remained. In 2011 he applied for permission to stay under the Amnesty Act but was refused, as he had lost his passport the only document that could confirm his identity. He tried to confirm his citizenship then but the Ukrainian authorities refused to recognise him as a Ukrainian citizen. The Russian Federation also declined to readmit him. Mr. I was therefore left in a legal limbo in Poland for another two years. With the support of his lawyer, he applied for refugee status in 2014. The biggest fear for him, before he filed his asylum application, was being placed in detention. Nevertheless although he was initially detained while filing the application, Polish Border Guards decided to apply alternatives to detention.