THE PROBLEM OF STATELESSNESS IN UKRAINE AND THE WAYS OF ADDRESSING IT Foreigners and stateless persons covered by the Law of Ukraine on Social Adaptation of Persons Who Served their Term of Custodial Restraint or Determined Confinement of 17.03.1128 are in a vulnerable legal situation. According to Article 12(2) of the Law of Ukraine on Immigration, an immigration permit can be cancelled if the immigrant has been convicted in Ukraine for more than one year of confinement and the sentence has become final. Hence, after such a decision has been made, the foreigner or stateless person will be deemed as having no legal ground to stay in the territory of Ukraine though serving their term of confinement in Ukraine. According to Article 13(1) of the Law of Ukraine on Immigration, if an immigration permit is cancelled, the central executive authority implementing the state policy on immigration withdraws the permanent residence permit from the person concerned within one week. Article 13(2) establishes that the person whose immigration permit was cancelled must leave Ukraine within one month of the receipt of the decision. Article 13(3) envisages that, if the person has not left Ukraine within one month of the receipt of the decision, he/she is subject to be removed according to the procedure established by Ukrainian laws29. Clearly, stateless persons, whose country of permanent residence is Ukraine, just have no country to turn to , which puts them at risk of being detained and placed in temporary detention centers for foreigners and stateless persons in order to prepare their removal, which will a priori be impossible. Besides, access of these persons to Ukrainian citizenship is substantially delayed and restricted by Article 14 of the Law of Ukraine on Immigration, according to which a person can re-lodge an application for an immigration permit no earlier than a year after the decision on cancellation of such a permit was made. Immigration permits are not granted to persons convicted of having committed a crime and sentenced to more than one year of confinement, except for persons who are married to Ukrainian citizens for more than two years, persons who are children or parents of Ukrainian citizens, or persons who have the right to acquire citizenship of Ukraine by territorial origin under Article 8 of the Law on Citizenship of Ukraine30.Persons not belonging to the above-mentioned categories have no right to re-apply for an immigration permit until their conviction is cancelled or they are released. If such a person had an established private life or family life in Ukraine, then the impossibility of obtaining an immigration permit and the need to leave Ukraine can constitute a breach of Article 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), according 28 Avilable at http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua 29 See http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/z0806-12 30 Available at http://zakon2.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2491-14 34