The IAFOR Journal of Politics, Economics and Law
Volume I – Issue I – Fall 2014

The IAFOR Journal of Politics, Economics and Law
Volume I – Issue I – Fall 2014

The IAFOR Journal of Politics, Economics and Law
Volume I – Issue I – Fall 2014

This year is the tenth anniversary of the final decision on al al Kateb v Godwin (2004)
HCA 37), a landmark case in Australian migration law. The Australian government
sought to indefinitely detain al Kateb, a stateless Kuwaiti, after refusing his
application for asylum. The High Court ruled in favour of al Kateb on the basis that
indefinite detention of a stateless person is unlawful. Since then, Australian law on
statelessness has failed to develop to the extent that the Australian government has not
legislated on a determination procedure for stateless people. Australia does not
provide protections under United Nations Convention on the Status of Stateless
Persons (1954) to which Australia is a signatory. This paper discusses sources
Australian Country Advice KWT39495 to describe how concepts about stateless
communities might develop within the Refugee and Migration Review Tribunals. It
challenges the veracity of the Country Advice information based on its use of sources.
It explains the reasoning behind American and UK positions on statelessness in
Kuwait in the Country Advice, which influences determinations on asylum claims, in
the absence of a procedure to determine and resolve statelessness. It concludes that
not only are the Australian Country Advices in need of update, there is also a need for
the quality of evidence sourced and the interpretation of that evidence, to be reviewed


Keywords: Statelessness, human rights law, refugee law

Craig Mark