20 1 PROTECTING STATELESS PERSONS FROM ARBITRARY DETENTION SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Alternatives to detention 1.1 Immigration authorities should proactively consider and implement a range of appropriate community based alternatives to detention in line with international best practice. 1.2 Immigration authorities must improve their guidance for those making decisions to detain to ensure that all decisions are proportionate, reasonable, necessary, and in particular, that alternatives have been fully considered and implemented as a priority. 1.3 States must guarantee the right to appeal to an independent authority and provide a clear role for the judiciary in scrutinising the lawfulness of decisions to detain. 1.4 Decision makers must consider the specific circumstances facing stateless persons and those at risk of statelessness when determining removal procedures and making decisions to detain. 2. Identification of Statelessness 2.1 Statelessness determination procedures should be developed in line with established guidance including the UNHCR Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons. 2.2 Anyone on the territory or subject to its jurisdiction should have access to a statelessness determination procedure at any time, including those who are undocumented, without lawful residence, or in detention. 2.3 Decisions to detain or to remove an individual must consider statelessness: if someone claims to be stateless or is suspected of being stateless (or is unable to establish their nationality), they should be provided with information and legal aid, and referred to a Statelessness Determination Procedure that can formally recognise their status and grant them the appropriate protection. 2.4 People going through a statelessness determination procedure should have a right of appeal and review, access to legal aid and advice, and information about their rights in a language they understand. 3. Addressing vulnerability and protecting against discrimination 3.1 Immigration authorities must put in place robust mechanisms to identify and protect individuals’ rights, respond to vulnerabilities (including those that may arise from the experience of detention), and exercise their duty to not discriminate. 3.2 Immigration authorities should not routinely detain or otherwise discriminate against those who have previously served criminal sentences. 3.3 States should build specific protections for women and children into their immigration systems. 3.4 The immigration detention of children is never in their best interests: alternatives to detention should be provided for families and alternative care arrangements made for unaccompanied children. 4. Integration in the community 4.1 Authorities should grant compensation to individuals whose detention has been deemed unlawful. 4.2 Authorities should protect those released from detention from re-detention and grant them legal status in accordance with their rights. 4.3 Stateless people and those at risk of statelessness should be provided with the basic rights and freedoms to facilitate their integration in the community. 4.4 Nationality laws should provide a facilitated route to naturalisation for people recognised as stateless. 5. Monitoring and implementation 5.1 Statelessness must be recorded accurately, disaggregated, and reported on in official statistics. 5.2 There should be independent oversight of immigration detention in Europe by actors such as UN agencies, prison monitoring bodies, national human rights institutions, and NGOs. 5.3 Immigration authorities should provide detainees with visiting rights and ensure that detention centres are accessible to family, legal representatives, support workers and community members.