18 1 PROTECTING STATELESS PERSONS FROM ARBITRARY DETENTION • In Ukraine, people released from detention after the maximum term are entitled to apply for a temporary residence permit, but one of the conditions is registration of a place of residence, which can be difficult in practice. If released before the maximum term, people are not eligible for residence, considered unlawful, and may be re-detained. Even those with a residence permit face often insurmountable barriers to accessing employment due to the requirement to apply for a work permit. Governments and European institutions are clearly not giving adequate attention to the residence rights of people who cannot be removed. States should recognise that some people cannot lawfully be removed. This is not a failure, but a reality. These people will remain in the country, and their attitude towards it will be shaped by their experiences with immigration authorities. Identifying barriers to removal and making the decision not to detain someone is a successful resolution of a difficult case. It requires a commitment to ensuring that those who are released, are released with a legal status that guarantees their access to fundamental rights and freedoms. Governments have a duty to act to ensure that the rights and protections of stateless people or those at risk of statelessness are recognised, and that they are provided with opportunities to rebuild their lives, integrate into their communities, and access a facilitated route to naturalisation. All those at risk of statelessness should have their rights fully protected pending a proper and diligent determination of their status. Stateless persons should be granted legal status and related rights, including the right to work, study, social security, and healthcare: • Authorities should grant compensation to individuals whose detention has been deemed unlawful. • Authorities should protect those released from detention from re-detention and grant them legal status in accordance with their rights. • Stateless people and those at risk of statelessness should be provided with the basic rights and freedoms to facilitate their integration in the community. • Nationality laws should provide a facilitated route to naturalisation for people recognised as stateless. MONITORING AND IMPLEMENTATION The lack of accurate data on statelessness and the detention of stateless people or those at risk of statelessness is hampering the ability of governments and other bodies to monitor whether they are meeting their duties and obligations under international law. It is silencing the voices of some of the most marginalised men, women and children in Europe’s communities. It is undermining the fairness and effectiveness of immigration law, policy and practice in the region. The failure of immigration regimes to comprehend and accommodate the phenomenon of statelessness, identify stateless persons and ensure that they do not directly or indirectly discriminate against them is resulting in people being punished for their statelessness. To begin to tackle the issues highlighted by this project and take action towards affecting the changes outlined here, authorities must improve how they record and report on statelessness, and build transparency and accountability into the operation of immigration removal and detention procedures. • Statelessness must be recorded accurately, disaggregated, and reported on in official statistics. • There should be independent oversight of immigration detention in Europe by actors such as UN agencies, prison monitoring bodies, national human rights institutions, and NGOs. • Immigration authorities should provide detainees with visiting rights and ensure that detention centres are accessible to family, legal representatives, support workers and community members.