Lack of a dedicated mechanism to identify and regularise the status of stateless persons in South Africa 39. South Africa at present does not have a dedicated mechanism to identify statelessness. The identification of stateless persons is however of utmost importance in guaranteeing the rights of stateless persons living in the country. In its Handbook on the Protection of Stateless Persons, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) observes that “although the 1954 Convention does not explicitly address statelessness determination procedures, there is an implicit responsibility for States to identify stateless persons in order to accord them appropriate standards of treatment under the Convention.”27 South Africa has not acceded to the 1954 Convention, despite pledging to do so. The obligation to identify statelessness is however, inherently related to the South Africa’s obligations under other international treaties. When particular rights, such as the liberty and security of the person, are engaged, the identification of stateless persons becomes relevant. Without accurate identification of stateless persons there is moreover a lack of insight into the extent of statelessness in South Africa. This makes it impossible to respond to the phenomenon at both a policy level and in order to protect individual human rights. 40. One of the biggest challenges in the context of assisting stateless persons is that South Africa does not formally recognise nor protect stateless persons who do not qualify for refugee status. 41. While stateless persons, in theory, are able to apply for permanent residence status in terms of section 31(2)(b) of the Immigration Act, very few applications have been approved and the processing of the application can take from 8 months to three years. In some cases, the application has never been finalised. LHR has obtained court orders which compel the state to finalise these applications. In some cases, the state has ignored these orders or has rejected the applications despite clear indications that the applicant is stateless. The arbitrary detention of stateless persons 42. Stateless persons in South Africa are extremely vulnerable to arbitrary and lengthy immigration detention. LHR regularly assist stateless persons or those at risk of statelessness who are held in immigration detention by approaching the High Court of South Africa for an order for their release. 43. Detainees include persons who have failed to establish nationality of their country of origin, country of habitual residence or their parent’s country of origin, as well as persons with an unrecognised claim to South African Citizenship. Once in detention, these persons’ nationality cannot be confirmed by consular officials of foreign countries, or South African Immigration officials. They are usually held beyond the prescribed 120 days within which persons can be legally detained before deportation,28 released without any path to legal immigration status and often with no documentation whatsoever to prove they have already been through immigration proceedings and could not be deported. 44. Upon release, they are referred to local Home Affairs offices or asked to approach the embassies of countries where they previously resided. These persons have no access to rights or benefits, 27 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, 30 June 2014, para 144, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/53b676aa4.html 28 Section 34(1)(d)of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002