I. INTRODUCTION This practical tool has been developed for the purpose of identifying persons in the context of detention who may be stateless and to support the achievement of solutions to their predicament. This tool may be used to identify stateless persons before the decision to detain is made, when release in the community or referral to an alternative to detention are considered, or after the decision to detain has been made. It is intended for legal practitioners, decision makers and case workers who may be visiting detention places or are otherwise engaged in the asylum and migration process, including judges, border officials, staff of civil society organizations, as well as staff of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), national preventive mechanisms,1 national human rights institutions, ombudspersons and other national or international organisations that monitor (immigration) detention. Statelessness typically severely restricts access to basic identity and travel documents that nationals normally possess. Moreover, stateless persons often do not have legal residence in any country. Because they generally do not possess identity documents or valid residence permits, stateless persons can be at high risk of arrest and repeated and prolonged detention. In situations where they are detained outside their country of origin, they may also face prolonged detention because they are unable to return to their country of origin. However, being undocumented or lacking required immigration or residence permits cannot be used as a general justification for detention of stateless persons.2 Identifying stateless persons in detention is therefore relevant at all stages of the migration or asylum process. As stateless persons are especially at risk of prolonged detention, the identification of statelessness should be considered as part of the identification of other vulnerabilities. Release in the community or referral to appropriate alternatives to detention should be favored. 4 1 National Preventive Mechanisms (NPMs) for the prevention of torture at the domestic level are designated or established by States Party to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. They have the power to regularly examine the treatment of the persons deprived of their liberty in places of detention and make recommendations to the relevant authorities with the aim of improving the treatment and the conditions of the persons deprived of their liberty and to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 2 See UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, 30 June 2014, Para. 112 – 115, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/53b676aa4.html. STATELESS PERSONS IN DETENTION