Statelessness Working Paper Series No. 2017/06 expecting a baby upon their arrival or their baby was conceived during the time spent either in a detention centre or in a community while awaiting an assessment of her protection claim. These include children held in offshore detention as well as those in Australia. While the Manus Island detention centre has been set up for single men, the Nauru detention centre holds families and single women. There are approximately over 100 stateless people held on Nauru, and 25 on Manus Island.7 Unfortunately, there are no available statistics on the number of stateless children in offshore detention. For those in Australia, as of December 2014, there were 320 stateless people held in closed community detention and 430 living in the community awaiting processing. Of this, 104 stateless children were held in detention, and 239 were in the community.8 While it is not clear how many of these children were born in Australia, the Australian Human Rights Commission has noted that since 2013 “at least 12 babies have been born in detention to mothers who have no recorded nationality. These mothers are generally of Rohingya ethnic origin and come from Myanmar where they have no status as citizens and are not recorded in the census.”9 Other figures put the number of stateless children born in Australia at 38.10 There are also a number of stateless children who have been born in Australia after their mothers were brought from the Nauru detention centre to receive medical care. The case of Baby Farouz highlights the situation for these stateless children. In September 2013, the Myuddins, a Rohingya family, arrived on Christmas Island, Australia by boat in order to seek protection as refugees. Due to new policies introduced in June 2013, they were transferred to the Nauru offshore processing centre and denied resettlement in Australia. Latifar Myuddin, who was expecting a baby when she arrived by boat—with a high risk pregnancy—while on Nauru, and therefore was subsequently transferred to Brisbane, Australia to give birth. Baby Ferouz was born on 6 November 2013 at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane. Even though Ferouz was issued a birth certificate, the Australian Department of Immigration deemed him an ‘Unauthorised Maritime Arrival’ like his parents, thereby subjecting him to transfer to Nauru once he was six weeks old. A legal challenge to this designation was lodged, which sought to allow Ferouz to apply for a Protection visa in Australia, and Ferouz and his family remained in detention for 15 months while the challenge was heard and appealed. In October 2014, the Federal Court found that baby Ferouz’s designation as an ‘Unauthorised Maritime Arrival’ was justified, and he would therefore be ineligible to apply for a Protection visa.11 Since the Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment (Resolving the Asylum Legacy Caseload) Act 2014 (discussed below) was passed, Ferouz and other children born in Australia were allowed to remain in Australia and be processed for a temporary Protection visa. Ferouz has also applied for citizenship as entitled as a stateless baby born in Australia. However, the Immigration Minister is yet to grant him citizenship. A discussion of his right to Australian citizenship by birth is further discussed below. 7 Elibritt Karlsen, ‘Australia’s Offshore Processing of Asylum Seekers in Nauru and PNG: A Quick Guide to Statistics and Resources’ (Parliamentary Library, Parliament of Australia) <http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1 516/Quick_Guides/Offshore#_Total_number_of> accessed 16 October 2016. 8 Department of Immigration and Border Protection, ‘Immigration and Community Detention Statistics Summary’ (2014) <http://www.border.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/statistics/immigrationdetention-statistics-dec2014.pdf> accessed 26 February 2016. 9 Australian Human Rights Commission, The Forgotten Children: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention (2014) 90. 10 Foster, McAdam and Wadley (n 1) 477. 11 Plaintiff B9/2014 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2014] FCAFC 178