Tucker Comparative Migration Studies (2018) 6:29 enlightening, highlighting that choice of destination may change for refugees during their migration, as well as developing a hierarchy of reasoning for their decision making. Commentators have also utilised comparisons between those from different countries of origin in destination states. Day and White's (2002) research on the United Kingdom showed that in understanding the destination choices of Bosnian and Somali refugees one must not only consider individual choice but also institutional explanations in understanding the patterns of asylum destinations. Social networks, information exchange and chain migration have also been shown to influence destination decisions (Koser & Pinkerton, 2002), as have trans-border ethnic linkages (Rüegger & Bohnet, 2015). Other considerations include the image or perception of the destination country, language, labour market opportunities, education, welfare and the desire to live in a state with democracy, freedom and human rights (Brekke & Aarset, 2009; Neumayer, 2004). However, research on stateless refugees, specifically considering how their statelessness impacts their choice of destination country, has, to the best of my knowledge, not been undertaken. As such, this research aims to begin to address this gap, unpacking the role of statelessness in the decision-making process. Such research not only allows us to address this gap in our knowledge, facilitating a more nuanced understanding of migration, statelessness and refugee-ness, but it also serves to inform policy related to refugee flows. This is because, as will be discussed below, for those interviewed, their statelessness and their desire to resolve this, played a significant role in their asylum destination decision. Thus, in trying to understand and/or manage migration flows at a national or regional level, one must recognise that variations in access to citizenship could be a significant factor in stateless refugees’ onward movement and choice of asylum destination. Stateless refugees The study of statelessness originated in the legal field, initially focusing on the analysis of nationality law and later framing statelessness as a human rights question (Manly & van Waas, 2014). Whereas citizenship, which is often seen as the antithesis of statelessness, is described by Joppke (2010, p. 1) as “a notoriously polyvalent concept”, the same cannot be said for statelessness, which has yet to break free from its legal origins. Previous research has focused mainly on in situ stateless populations, or the situation of non-refugee stateless migrants. Some scholars have however started to recognise that the statelessness of refugees’ is both meaningful and impactful on refugees’ lived experience, or that refugee-ness is impactful on the lives of the stateless. We can see examples of where commentators have explored statelessness as a cause or consequence of forced migration (ISI, 2014), as a barrier to securing solutions for refugees (Hovil, 2016; Sen, 1999; Sen, 2000), statelessness and refugee protection (Darling, 2009), persecution (Fullerton, 2005) and deprivation of nationality (Fripp, 2016). Yet, despite some developments, it continues to be researched in distinct national legal contexts, with statelessness itself being seen more as a anomalous legal status/ puzzle than a multifaceted lived experience that shapes how people move between, within and through these local, national and regional legal contexts. For example, even very comprehensive texts on refugee law and policy that are prominent in refugee studies have only a few fleeting references or footnotes to statelessness (see Feller, Page 4 of 17