CHAPTER 3: ESTIMATING THE POPULATION OF STATELESS AND “UNRETURNABLE” PERSONS IN THE UK An attempt to calculate the stateless population in the UK in this chapter encounters substantial flaws in the quality of the data collected and presented by the government. This chapter scrutinises much of the publicly-available data, explores the limitations to this information, and suggests better ways in which relevant information might be collected and presented in the future. It also explores further disaggregated data in detail, made available to the researchers at special request, from which more robust statistics can be derived. A number of practical policy recommendations follow from these statistics. 3.1 Introduction One of the primary aims of the study was to map the number and the profile of stateless persons in the UK.48 At the outset of the research in September 2010 there was a gap in the published statistics relating to stateless persons. In particular, stateless persons did not appear as a separate category in the immigration control statistics, published by the UK’s Home Office.49 Although the situation improved during the research, and “stateless” appeared as a category in the immigration statistics published in August 2011,50 further progress is still needed to ensure accuracy. In addition, there was no published research that attempted to estimate the number of stateless persons in the UK. In this context, it was recognised that a greater understanding of the number and profile of stateless persons in the UK would help in evaluating the extent to which the UK was complying with its international legal obligations towards stateless persons and would be an aid to policy makers. 28 48 Such research is part of the mandate that UNHCR has been given by the General Assembly in respect of the identification of stateless populations, see UN General Assembly resolutions A/ RES/51/75 (12 Dec. 1996), A/RES/53/125 (9 December 1998), A/RES/54/146 (17 Dec. 1999), A/ RES/55/74 (4 Dec. 2000), A/RES/55/153 (12 December 2000), A/RES/56/137 (19 Dec. 2001), A/RES/57/187 (18 Dec. 2002), A/RES/58/151 (22 Dec. 2003), A/RES/59/34 (2 Dec. 2004), A/ RES/59/170 (20 Dec. 2004), A/RES/60/129 (16 Dec. 2005), A/RES/61/137 (19 Dec. 2006), A/ RES/62/124 (18 Dec. 2007), A/RES/63/118 (11 Dec. 2008), A/RES/63/148 (18 Dec. 2008), A/ RES/64/127 (18 Dec. 2009), and A/RES/65/194 (21 Dec. 2010). Further see UNHCR, Conclusion on the identification, prevention and reduction of statelessness and to further the protection of stateless persons, 6 Oct. 2006, N° 106 (LVII) - 2006, para. (c), available at http://www.unhcr. org/3d4ab3ff2.html. 49 For example, Home Office, The Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2009, available at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/ immigration-asylum-research/hosb1510/?view=Standard&pubID=864717. 50 See Home Office Immigration Statistics: April to June 2011, available at: http://www.homeoffice. gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/ immigration-q2-2011/. Mapping statelessness