JOURNEY TO THE UK Although most stateless persons remain in their country of birth, some leave and become migrants or refugees. Conversely, some migrants or refugees can become stateless after leaving their country of origin. In both instances, whilst outside their country of origin, many are not recognised as stateless and face serious human rights problems such as prolonged or repeated detention and destitution. Often, the authorities of their country of origin will not re-admit them, and they struggle to find a State that will grant them legal residence. Each person interviewed in the study had a very different story to tell about how they came to the UK and ended up applying for statelessness leave. *Please note names below have been changed to maintain the confidentiality of interviewees. In addition, the information below is correct at the time of interviews which took place between December 2019 and November 2020. Mohamad moved to Lebanon from the State of Palestine with his father when he was around 10 years old. His father passed away not long after, and he had no form of identification in Lebanon. He left Lebanon in 2005 and arrived in the UK in March of that year. Mohamad made an application for asylum on arrival. He remained in the asylum process for nine years until his asylum application was finally refused. In early 2016, he was referred to an expert legal provider, and he submitted an application for statelessness leave on 31 March 2017. His statelessness leave was granted in December 2018. Like Mohamad, Khalil was born in the State of Palestine and was living there before coming to the UK in 2007 with his father’s friend. He left the State of Palestine following an increase in violence in 2000 and the death of close family members. On arrival in the UK, Khalil made an application for asylum which was subsequently refused. He found himself in the asylum system for seven years and in 2016, was referred to an expert legal provider. He submitted an application for statelessness leave in late 2016/early 2017. His statelessness leave was granted in early 2019. Abdulla was born in Côte d’Ivoire and, when he was a child, out of fear for his safety during a period of political strife, his parents’ friend arranged for him to travel to Mauritania. After being forced to work for the parents’ friend in Mauritania and refused pay, eventually Abdulla arrived in the UK in 2003 with the help of a stranger who helped him escape his situation. He was a child at the time of his arrival. He claimed asylum shortly after arrival, but this was later refused. Unable to prove his nationality, Abdulla struggled for over seven years to regularise his stay in the UK or return to his country of origin. After eventually being referred to an expert legal provider, Abdulla made an application for statelessness leave in March 2017 and, following two administrative review decisions, his leave was granted in August 2019. Benjamin was born in Namibia. His mother, who was born in Poland, was liberated from a concentration camp in Europe following the Second World War. Neither of his parents had citizenship or a right of permanent residency in Namibia when he was born, and he did not acquire Namibian citizenship at birth. Eventually, Benjamin’s parents naturalised as South African citizens, but he was an adult by then, and he did not obtain South African citizenship. He wasn’t aware he was not a citizen of either Namibia or South Africa until adulthood. An opponent of apartheid, he was detained on numerous occasions and he therefore left South Africa. Benjamin arrived in the UK in 1973, and in 2014, he was granted statelessness leave with a residence permit valid for 30 months. Benjamin renewed his statelessness leave in 2016, and in 2019, he received indefinite leave to remain in the UK as a stateless person. Farah is a Kuwaiti Bidoun and came to the UK in 2018 on a temporary travel document issued by the Kuwaiti Government (but which does not confer Kuwaiti nationality). Farah applied for asylum in the UK. Farah’s mother is Kuwaiti, but Farah states that she is unable to acquire Kuwaiti citizenship through her mother due to protection concerns resulting from her mother’s ill-treatment of her. Farah’s father has acquired Canadian citizenship since her birth, but as far as she is aware from legal advice the family has obtained, because she is over 18, she is not eligible for a visa or citizenship of Canada. 10