their place of residence and move freely within the country. International law requires that where immigration detention is necessary for a permissible purpose, it must as brief as possible and cannot be indefinite.9 ‘Routine detention of individuals seeking protection on the grounds of statelessness is arbitrary’.10 Stateless persons also benefit from the general application of international human rights standards found in the core human rights treaties, such as equality before the law, non-discrimination, adequate standard of living, etc.11 Domestic Law and Significant Domestic Developments since the Previous UPR Cycle 9. Domestic law on statelessness: In April 2013, the United Kingdom introduced a procedure through which persons may be recognised as stateless and in some cases granted leave to remain in the UK.12 The procedure is established in the Immigration Rules,13 and the Government’s interpretation of the Rules is in its published guidance.14 The Immigration Rules provide some stateless persons a lawful temporary status and route to permanent residence.15 Applicants who meet the requirements of the Rules will normally be granted 2.5 years leave to remain, which can be renewed. After 5 years’ lawful residence, they can apply for permanent residence and may later be eligible for British nationality. 10. Domestic law on nationality: The British Nationality Act 1981 (BNA) governs acquisition and deprivation of British nationality.16 Prior to the commencement of the BNA, any child born in (UNHCR, 30 June 2014) http://www.refworld.org/docid/53b676aa4.html (‘UNHCR Statelessness Handbook’), paras 132-139. 9 See Guidelines on the Applicable Criteria and Standards relating to the Detention of Asylum-Seekers and Alternatives to Detention (UNHCR, 2012) http://www.refworld.org/docid/503489533b8.html, paras. 15-21, 34; see also, e.g., JN v United Kingdom (May 2016) Application no 37289/12 (ECtHR) (concluding that the absence of a fixed time limit in the UK does not breach the right to liberty under ECHR Article 5; however, the applicant, an Iranian national, was detained for approximately 4 and a half years, and the Court found that the authorities had not acted with due diligence to enforce his removal, which resulted in a violation of Article 5 with respect to part of his detention). 10 UNHCR Statelessness Handbook (note 8) para 112; see also Protecting Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention: A Regional Toolkit for Practitioners (European Network on Statelessness, 2015) http://www.statelessness.eu/protecting-stateless-persons-from-detention, 2.2. 11 There are some restrictions. For example, stateless persons have no right to vote or be elected to political office under international human rights law. 12 For ease of reference, we refer in this submission to Part 14 of the Immigration Rules as a ‘statelessness determination procedure’. More technically, however, Part 14 is more accurately described as a procedure for applying for leave to remain in the UK based on statelessness. The importance of this distinction is evident in our discussion of the UK’s definition of statelessness and departures from international law relating to statelessness. 13 (HC 395, 23 May 1994, as amended), at Part 14: Stateless Persons (effective 6 April 2013) https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-part-14-stateless-persons, paras 401-416. 14 The initial guidance was published in 2013: Applications for leave to remain as a stateless person (1 May 2013), http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140104224755/http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteconten t/documents/policyandlaw/stateless-guide/stateless-guide.pdf?view=Binary (‘2013 guidance’) and revised in 2016: Asylum Policy Instruction, Statelessness and applications for leave to remain, Version 2.0 (18 Feb 2016) https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/501509/Statelessness_AI_v2 .0__EXT_.pdf (‘2016 guidance’). 15 Known in the UK as ‘indefinite leave to remain’. 16 British Nationality Act 1981, 1981 Chapter 61, 30 October 1981, http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/61/contents. Although this submission does not examine 3