A. STANDAR DS FOR ASSESSI NG WH E T H E R DE T E N T ION IS ARBIT R ARY A.1 Legitimate Purpose The test of ‘legitimate purpose’ ensures that detention is resorted to only in the presence of a justifiable object. For an object to be legitimate, it ought to be reasonable and factually plausible. The legitimate purposes cited by states may include but are not limited to ‘removal’, ‘public order’, and ‘public health’.170 The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention prescribes that deportation (or removal) is valid as a legitimate purpose only in exceptional circumstances when the nexus between deprivation of liberty and deportation is close and proximate.171 This international practice finds resonance in regional legal frameworks. For instance, although the Council of Europe authorises detention for removal under Article 5(1)(f) of the ECHR, courts have interpreted this authorisation restrictively. It only applies to persons who have not been determined to be stateless, since detention of stateless persons cannot possibly serve the purpose of securing deportation.172 According to an EU directive, detention is no longer legitimately justified when a reasonable prospect of removal ceases to exist.173 At the same time, purposes such as national security have been regarded as illegitimate for justifying detention of stateless persons.174 In India, the White Paper on the Foreigners’ Issue drafted by the Government of Assam is an official statement which represents the rationale behind detention of precarious citizens 170 UNHCR ‘Detention Guidelines: Guidelines on the Applicable Criteria and Standards Relating to The Detention of Asylum-Seekers and Alternatives to Detention’ (2012) <https://www.unhcr.org/ publications/legal/505b10ee9/unhcr-detention-guidelines.html> accessed 24 June 2020 (UNHCR Detention Guidelines). See also The Equal Rights Trust, ‘Guidelines to Protect Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention’ (2012) <https://www.equalrightstrust.org/ertdocumentbank/guidelines%20 complete.pdf> accessed 27 June 2020 (ERT Guidelines). 171 UNHRC ‘Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to the 13th session of the Human Rights Council’ (18 January 2010) A/HRC/13/30. See also FKGA v Australia Comm no 2094/2011 (UN Human Rights Committee, 20 August 2013), para 9(3). 172  Okonkwo v Austria App no 35117/97 (ECtHR, 22 May 2001). 173 Parliament and Council Directive 2008/115/EC of 16 December 2008 on common standards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals [2008] OJ L348/98. 174  Amie and Others v Bulgaria App no 58149/08 (ECtHR, 12 February 2013). chapter ii • detention 105 SECTION I.A.1