Therefore, the statistics in respect of asylum-seekers who are identified as “stateless” or “other or unknown” nationality may be particularly revealing in respect of the number of stateless persons on the UK territory. That said, the same issues about the reliability of the data arise as a result of problems in classification and categorisation. As a result, these figures should be treated with a degree of caution, although it is less likely that these statistics will contain a significant number of non-stateless persons recognised as refugees, compared to other data sets examined. The published data for asylum applications made by stateless persons suggest numbers remain consistently low, rarely exceeding 200 per year. The data shows that the nationality “unknown or other” was more frequent from 2001-2003, whilst numbers in the “stateless” category tend to increase gradually from 2001, potentially largely replacing the use of nationality “unknown or other”. One explanation for this increase may be that “Kuwaiti Bidoun” was only established as a CID category in 2006. Consequently, Kuwaiti Bidouns who could previously have been categorised in the “other or unknown” category on CID may, from 2006, be categorised differently (see further discussion below). Separate investigation of CID data which excludes Kuwaiti Bidouns confirms this finding because it shows the numbers of asylum cases of stateless persons decreasing in the relevant period.73 Profiles The CID data also provides a disaggregation by age74 and gender.75 Any additional data relating to specific details of an asylum claim are only recorded in the “person notes” sections within the database or held solely on the case file. Consequently, the UK Border Agency was unable to provide details on country of origin. Figure 7: Relevant asylum cases recorded by CID by age at date of application (2001-2010) Over 35 26-35 Nationality Currently Unknown 19-25 Officially Stateless 16-18 Stateless Person (Article 1 of 1954 Convention) 10-15 Unspecified Nationality 0-9 0 50 100 150 Source: FOI request 18427 received 18 May 2011 from UKBA performance services team. Please note the figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. 40 73 Received by researchers as FOI 18427. 74 Age relates to the applicant’s age at date of application. 75 This is because these variables are captured in certain mandatory fields on CID. Mapping statelessness