Asylum Aid and other organisations say overall situation for stateless people is "cruel and destructive"
A new briefing on the severe challenges facing stateless people in the UK was published this week by Asylum Aid, Jesuit Refugee Service UK, The University of Liverpool Law Clinic, the European Network on Statelessness, and JustRight Scotland.
Image credit: WikipediaYou can download the 11-page report here.
The report sheds light on the plight of the thousands of individuals in the UK who are not recognised as citizens by any state, describing how they remain trapped in legal limbo, facing severe vulnerabilities due to gaps in law and policy. Stateless people are denied basic rights and left exposed to poverty, discrimination, and exploitation. Without recognition of their legal status, they cannot work, access healthcare, or integrate into society.
According to the report, the exact number of stateless people in the UK is difficult to determine. While analysis of Government figures by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) showed 5,483 stateless people in the UK as of 2022, the briefing says the real figure is likely to be higher. Many stateless people in the UK are asylum seekers or refugees.
A key issue highlighted in the report is the flawed statelessness determination procedure, through which stateless people can regularise their status, and the poor access to legal advice to guide stateless people through the procedure.
Without legal advice, stateless individuals face a near impossible task to navigate the complex procedures required to resolve their status. A severe shortage of immigration and asylum lawyers, fuelled by years of neglect and low legal aid remuneration, has left many people without access to adequate representation. The issue is exacerbated in England and Wales, as statelessness cases fall outside the scope of legal aid, requiring lawyers to apply for time-consuming Exceptional Case Funding (ECF).
The briefing outlines the statelessness determination procedure, which was introduced in 2013 as a step toward recognising and regularising the status of stateless individuals in the UK. However, Asylum Aid and the other organisations identify significant flaws in the procedure's effectiveness.
There is no right of appeal to the courts for people refused recognition as stateless, leading to a large proportion of erroneous refusals going unchallenged. Additionally, statelessness applicants are almost never invited to Home Office interviews, which can be crucial for explaining their situation. The report says the burden of proof is placed unfairly on the applicant, and the threshold of proof is unduly high. On top of this, significant delays in the decision-making process leave many stateless people in limbo for years, often destitute and reliant on government support.
Stateless individuals are also at a disproportionate risk of long detention due to their uncertain legal status, the report highlights. This not only compounds problems accessing the asylum and immigration procedures to resolve peoples' status, but also has severe mental health implications. The report notes: "Stateless people already endure profound uncertainty. In indefinite immigration detention, they face a double limbo."
For those who are eventually recognised under the statelessness leave to remain procedure, the briefing raises further concerns over recent policy changes on family reunification and the impact of costly fees for naturalising as a British citizen.
Asylum Aid and the other organisations sum up the overall situation for stateless people in the UK as "cruel and destructive".
The briefing makes a number of recommendations, including improving the determination process, increasing access to legal support, protecting stateless individuals from detention, and removing barriers to citizenship. These changes, the organisations says, are vital to ensure that stateless individuals can access the protection they need and move forward with their lives.