Film star Cate Blanchett decries “heartbreaking” plight of stateless
LondonThomson Reuters Foundation Film star Cate Blanchett urged the world to end the devastating plight of millions of people with no nationality on Monday, describing statelessness as a “heartbreaking” waste of human talent and potential. The double Oscar-winner made the plea at a major intergovernmental meeting in Geneva aimed at accelerating a global campaign to […]
LIFESTORY: “I FOUND A COUNTRY BUT LOST MY BROTHER” – STATELESS ACTIVIST MAHA MAMO
Maha Mamo, once a stateless person, speaks with EMMA BATHA, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, about her struggle for recognition…
Ending statelessness is easy, says Kyrgyz winner of top UN prize
Tbilisi, GeorgiaThomson Reuters Foundation A lawyer who helped Kyrgyzstan become the first country to eradicate statelessness has urged politicians to end the plight of millions of “legal ghosts” who lack any nationality after winning a prestigious UN award on Wednesday. Kyrgyz human rights lawyer Azizbek Ashurov said combating statelessness was “simple”, but required political will, […]
Kyrgyzstan makes history as it ends plight of last “legal ghosts”
LondonThomson Reuters Foundation Kyrgyzstan handed citizenship to the last stateless people on its territory on Thursday in what UN officials hailed as a breakthrough in the global fight to end the plight of millions of “legal ghosts” who lack any nationality. An estimated 10 to 15 million people worldwide are not recognised as nationals by […]
Stateless woman tells how she couldn’t visit dying dad
The Hague, The NetherlandsThomson Reuters Foundation When Ekaterina’s father was dying she could not visit him in Uzbekistan because she did not have a passport – so she tried to get herself deported. But as a stateless person living in the United States, she could not even do that. An empty chair is seen at […]
Myanmar must give Rohingya ‘pathway to citizenship’ – UN investigator
LondonThomson Reuters Foundation Myanmar must grant citizenship to stateless Rohingya with roots in the country, a senior UN investigator said on Wednesday, as she urged the country’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi to “be the democrat she once told us she was”. Buddhist-majority Myanmar does not recognise the Muslim Rohingya as citizens despite a long […]
Iran expected to scrap ban on women passing nationality to children
The Hague, The NetherlandsThomson Reuters Foundation Iran plans to scrap a law banning women from passing their nationality to their children, which human rights experts said could help thousands of children living in legal limbo by letting them acquire citizenship. Iran is one of 25 countries that do not permit women married to foreigners to […]
Where are the world’s stateless people?
The Hague, The NetherlandsThomson Reuters Foundation An estimated 10 to 15 million people are not recognised as nationals by any country, often depriving them of basic rights most of the world takes for granted such as education, healthcare, housing and jobs. An international conference opening in The Hague on Wednesday will assess progress on a […]
Thousands of children born in Colombia to Venezuelan migrants left stateless
Bogata, ColombiaThomson Reuters Foundation Thousands of children born in Colombia to Venezuelan mothers are stuck in legal limbo with no identity documents, putting them at risk of statelessness, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, warned on Thursday. Nearly 1.3 million Venezuelans have settled in neighbouring Colombia, fleeing a political and economic crisis in their homeland […]
ESSAY: SHOULD AN ISLAMIC STATE BRIDE BECOME STATELESS?
Writing from London, MAL FLETCHER looks at the case of Islamic State bride Shamima Begum…