tion center, when attempts by court bailiffs to establish the person’s affiliation with a country and execute a certificate of return home fail. In these cases, the consulate of the country where, in the court’s opinion, the stateless person lived in the past refuses to provide confirmation of the possibility of deportation since it has no evidence confirming the stateless person’s connection with this country. In this way, stateless persons become prisoners at foreign national detention centers until the expiry of the maximum sentence (two years) or until they have an opportunity to appeal the deportation ruling. Imprisoned stateless persons may rely on the help of human rights defenders or relatives, who may hire an attorney and attempt to appeal the illegal decision. Even though Russian law views confinement in these facilities as a means of securing enforcement of a deportation ruling and not as a punishment, the conditions in these facilities are in most cases prison-like, and sometimes even worse. What follows is the testimony of Denis Li, who was put in a foreign national detention center in Abakan in July 2018: “The building where the center is located was previously a detention facility for people under administrative arrest. It is surrounded by a metal fence topped with barbed wire. The windows have bars on them. Within the center, there are 4 x 5 m cells, which are intended to hold four people and are locked during the day. They are all prison-type cells. We can’t leave them. Only under guard. The cell holds iron bunks, a table, and a toilet. A camera that is on 24/7 hangs over the toilet. There’s no cafeteria here, so they bring us food. The exercise yard is caged. According to the schedule, we have one hour a day to exercise, but this time actually ends when someone asks to go back in. This usually means we’re corralled back in after 20 or 30 minutes. It’s very hard to see relatives because visiting hours are only from 10am to 12pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. So if your relatives work and they can’t get time off, it’s impossible to see them.”70 The second form of expulsion is independent controlled departure. This is generally ordered by higher instance courts after an initial appeal of a deportation ruling. Under this form of expulsion, people must cross the border within five days after the court ruling enters into force. Information from the Border Service about a person’s departure is then forwarded to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and recorded in the person’s migration record, which is evidence that the court ruling has been executed. This form of deportation is even more absurd than forcible expulsion: not only can it not be enforced, but it also pushes stateless persons to commit a crime, since crossing the RF border without valid documents is a criminally punishable act under 70 ADC Memorial archives. 38