8 | PROTECTING STATELESS PERSONS FROM ARBITRARY DETENTION IN UKRAINE Ihor Karas, an ethnic Russian with a remarkably Ukrainian sounding surname, was born in Moscow in 1987. Both his parents were Russian citizens. Ihor’s mother died in Moscow when he was only 11 years old. In 2002 his father – a construction worker – took him to Ukraine where he had a work engagement. When in 2004 Ihor’s father travelled back to Russia Ihor remained in Ukraine working with his father’s construction team. Shortly after, he received a phone call from Russia informing him that his father had passed away. Having settled down in Ukraine, Ihor met Nadiya a Ukrainian national and his common-law wife. He moved to live with her in the Zhytomyr region and they had three sons who, at the time of publication were six, five and three years old. Because he has no passport, Ihor is not officially registered as their father and cannot claim parental rights. His youngest son was born when Ihor was in immigration detention. Despite receiving an official notification from the SBGS that it was impossible to deport Ihor, the MDC administration did not prioritise releasing him. The court, however, ordered his release after nine months in detention. Since the law does not provide for any opportunity for regularisation of an undocumented migrant unless they have served the full 12-month period of immigration detention, Ihor remains undocumented, unable to access basic rights and at risk of repeated administration dentition. Ahmad Hassan was born in the Al-Bas refugee camp in Lebanon to a family of Palestinian refugees, and has been stateless since his birth. With no prospects for a future in Lebanon where he faced institutionalised discrimination and the dire camp conditions, Ahmad Hassan embarked on a journey to seek refuge in Europe. Most of his siblings had at the time received protection in Germany. When Ahmad Hassan had almost reached his destination in late 2003 he was apprehended by borderguards for attempting to illegally cross the border from Ukraine into the EU. He spent three months in the notorious Pavshyno MDC while attempts to deport him were made.4 Ahmad Hassan was released from the MDC after applying for asylum with the help of a Non-Governmental Organistion (NGO). With no job or other means of subsistence, he often slept rough and lived a destitute life. In 2005 he was convicted for a mugging and sentenced to four and a half years of imprisonment. In 2011 Ukraine adopted new legislation on international protection, which, in addition to refugee status also provided complementary and temporary protection statuses. Ahmad Hassan applied for protection under this new law but this was rejected too. Following judicial review proceedings Ahmad Hassan remains in Ukraine, undocumented and unreturnable. He and his common-law wife who is a citizen of Ukraine want to get married and start a normal life together, but lack the documents to do so. Ahmad Hassan lives every day of his life under threat of being detained and subject to removal proceedings, and so he takes great care to avoid interaction with authorities.