5 | PROTECTING STATELESS PERSONS FROM ARBITRARY DETENTION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM INTRODUCING THE INTERVIEWEES Yassin is a stateless Bidoon from Kuwait in his late twenties. He came to the United Kingdom in 2007 to seek asylum but his claim was refused. He married a European Union (EU) citizen and applied for leave to remain on that ground, but he was refused because he has no passport and the Home Office (HO) maintains that he could obtain Kuwaiti nationality. He contacted the Kuwaiti embassy and was told he cannot apply for citizenship. He has been in the UK on temporary admission for nine years. His solicitor is preparing a fresh asylum claim. Otolo is in his mid-thirties and originally from Cote d’Ivoire. As a child, he had been abandoned by his parents and then trafficked into Senegal. He escaped to the UK where he was later arrested after wrongly being accused of having committed a robbery. He was acquitted but held for a total of six months in criminal and immigration detention. Attempts to deport him failed as neither Cote d’Ivoire nor Senegal would recognise him as a national. He has now been granted leave to remain based on his statelessness and is qualifying to become a security guard. Peter is a man in his late fifties from Nigeria. He came to the UK about 20 years ago and made several attempts to obtain legal status, all of which failed. Without this, he was not allowed to work and was convicted for working illegally. After serving his sentence he spent nine months in immigration detention while attempts were made to remove him. He had signed up to return voluntarily to Nigeria but the Nigerian High Commission refused to accept him as a national. As Peter was born near the border of Nigeria with Cameroon, the HO approached the Cameroonian embassy. However, Cameroon also refused to recognise him as their national, saying he was Nigerian. When Peter was released from detention, he refused to leave because he had no place to go and wanted to return to Nigeria. He was left in the streets with no support. He was then re-detained again for three months because the HO wanted to bring him to the Nigerian High Commission one more time but he was again not accepted as a national. He has now a statelessness application but was refused on the ground that he could apply for Nigerian or Cameroonian nationality. Kivi is a man in his late twenties who was born in Djibouti to an Ethiopian mother and unknown father. He was orphaned at a young age and grew up in the streets. He went to Belfast as a teenager looking for a better life. As a minor, he received limited leave to remain and support. On his immigration documents it was written that he was one year older than his real age and that he was Ethiopian. However, when he turned 18, the HO issued him an order to leave the UK. Kivi did not know where else to go, and remained in Belfast. Following a conviction for handling marijuana and spending two years in prison, he was in immigration detention for two consecutive years. During these two years the HO tried to deport Kivi to Djibouti or to Ethiopia but all attempts failed despite his willingness to cooperate. He was released on tag more than one year ago and he has been required to reside in the South of the UK. His eight-year-old daughter, a British citizen, is in a care home in Belfast and because of the curfew requirements he cannot visit her. His solicitor is preparing a statelessness application.