“denied nationality and deprived basic rights and welfare, the stateless were already marginalised before the crisis. They now face even greater, life threatening marginalisation, with potentially disastrous consequences.”115 Further, an ISI Impact Report, which draws on the inputs of global partners, finds that stateless communities face devastating consequences in relation to health and wellbeing; survival and livelihoods; hate speech, racism and xenophobia; border closures and movement restrictions; insecurity and detention.116 Risk to Stateless Persons in Australian Immigration Detention Centres: 62 As stated above, stateless persons are at high risk of being placed in immigration detention (including indefinite immigration detention) in Australia due to their immigration status and the absence of a dedicated visa category for stateless persons. 63 The confined and crowded conditions within immigration detention centres create a high-risk environment for the transmission and spread of COVID-19.117 The Australian Government’s own health advice identifies people in detention facilities as a group most at risk of contracting the virus.118 64 The most recent Australian government statistics (31 March 2020) indicate 46 stateless people currently in Australian immigration detention facilities.119 This figure may now be higher; DHA has advised that the number of people in immigration detention has increased during COVID-19, while the Commonwealth Ombudsman observed that certain facilities were ‘approaching capacity.’120 65 Australian doctors and peak medical bodies have raised concerns about the potential risk of the spread of COVID-19 within these centres. 66 In March 2020, The Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases and the Australian College for Infection Prevention and Control released a statement urging the Government to consider releasing people held in detention into suitable housing in the community.121 The peak professional bodies note that people held in crowded conditions in detention cannot practice adequate social distancing or self-isolation.122 115 Joint statement by 84 CSOs, ‘In Solidarity with the Stateless’ (27 May 2020), available at https://files.institutesi.org/Joint_Statement_in_Solidarity_with_the_Stateless.pdf. 116 Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, Impact Report: Stateless in a Global Pandemic (June 2020), available at https://files.institutesi.org/Covid19_Stateless_Impact_Report.pdf. 117 World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, Preparedness, Prevention and Control of COVID-19 in Prisons and Other Places of Detention: Interim Guidance (15 March 2020) 1 <https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/434026/Preparednessprevention-and-control-of-COVID-19-in-prisons.pdf?ua=1>; UNHCR, The Impact of COVID-19 on Stateless Populations: Policy Recommendations and Good Practices (May 2020) 5 https://www.refworld.org/docid/5eb2a72f4.html; International Committee of the Red Cross, ‘COVID-19: Protecting Prison Populations from Infectious Coronavirus Diseases’ (11 March 2020) https://www.icrc.org/en/document/protecting-prison-populations-infectious-disease; Allan S Keller and Benjamin D Wagner, ‘COVID-19 and Immigration Detention in the USA: Time to Act’ (2020) 5(5) The Lancet Public Health E245-E256 <https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(20)30081-5/fulltext >. 118 Australian Government Department of Health, ‘What You Need to Know About Coronavirus (COVID-19) (Web page, last updated 11 June 2020) < https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/what-you-need-to-know-aboutcoronavirus-covid-19#who-is-most-at-risk>. 119 Department of Home Affairs (Cth), Australian Border Force, Immigration Detention and Community Statistics Summary (31 March 2020) 8 <https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/immigration-detention-statistics-31-march-2020.pdf >. 120 Commonwealth Ombudsman, ‘Statement by the Commonwealth Ombudsman Michael Manthrope on the Management of COVID-19 Risks in Immigration Detention Facilities’ (Media Release, 1 June 2020) 5 <https://www.ombudsman.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/111235/1-July-2020-Statement-by-the-Commonwealth-OmbudsmanMichael-Manthorpe-on-the-management-of-COVID-19-risks-in-immigration-detention-facilities.pdf>. 121 Joshua Davis and Philip Russo (open letter, 19 March 2020) <https://www.asid.net.au/documents/item/1868 >. 122 Ibid. 14