set out above reveals that not all stateless and “unreturnable” refused asylum-seekers receive section 4 support even though they “cannot be returned”. The Regulations and Guidance should be applied in a way that stateless and “unreturnable” persons who are not deemed “ordinarily resident” are able to access necessary and urgent secondary healthcare in compliance with the UK’s obligations under international human rights law. 5.5 Detention In 1997, UNHCR noted that there was an emerging trend across the globe of stateless persons being held in detention. The causes underlying the issue appeared to vary from State to State and the magnitude of the problem was not clear. It was therefore identified as an area that required further study with reference to “principles of international law relating to arbitrary detention, the right to return and agreements between States on confirmation of nationality”.333 One third of the participants in the research had been detained under immigration powers.334 The amount of time that each individual spent in immigration detention ranged from three days to over five years. Although the reasons for immigration detention varied greatly from case to case and often depended on personal circumstances, these figures indicate that the trend identified by UNHCR also exists in the UK. That said, the quantitative evidence analysed in Chapter 3 is insufficiently robust to draw conclusions about the scope of the problem.335 The experiences of Fatima, set out below, show the risks stateless persons face of being placed in immigration detention and, also, the personal impact that even a short period in detention can have on the individual. Name: Country of origin: Date of arrival in UK: Time in detention: Time in limbo: Current status: Fatima (Participant 31) Kuwait (Bidoun) April 2008 3 days 32 months None Fatima is a 27 year old stateless Bidoun from Kuwait who arrived in the UK and claimed asylum in April 2008. Fatima describes having attended school in Kuwait until the Gulf War in 1991, after which she and her family suffered increasing discrimination. None of the family was entitled to Kuwaiti citizenship so they were forced to live a precarious existence as illegal residents. Over the years, her father had made numerous but futile attempts to obtain Kuwaiti citizenship. Instead they were issued with “green” identity cards, which simply confirmed their irregular status and bestowed no entitlements to rights or services. The family’s situation worsened after her brother’s involvement in protests for Bidoun rights came to the attention of the authorities. He fled the country but the authorities continued to harass the family. In April 2008, concerned for her safety, her father arranged for Fatima to leave the country. 104 333 UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR Brief on Statelessness and Detention Issues, 27 November 1997, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4410638fc.html. 334 Participants 4, 7, 13, 14, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 31 and 35. 335 See Section 3.4. Mapping statelessness