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Statelessness robs individuals of their identity and their most fundamental human rights, acknowledged a webinar on Global Action Plan to End Statelessness on 4 November. The webinar was organized by World Council of Churches (WCC) to assess the work achieved since the launch of the #IBelong Campaign to end statelessness by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2014.
“Without a nationality, a stateless person is excluded from full enjoyment of the rights, freedoms and opportunities to which everyone should be entitled”, said the moderator of the webinar, Peter Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs. “They are ‘invisible’, but they are among us - fellow travellers on the pilgrimage of justice and peace whom it is our responsibility to recognize and make visible in our community.”
Nathan Hosler, director of the Office of Public Witness for the Church of the Brethren (USA), described the advocacy work Church of the Brethren has been doing for several years on statelessness. "Our work on statelessness began through the efforts of the WCC and has continued through our connections with Brethren in the Dominican Republic affected by changed legal status”, said Hosler. “We continue to engage through joint work with ecumenical, interfaith, and NGO partners."
The webinar was also an opportunity to hear directly from a young stateless woman, Maha Mamo, international relations manager at Agro Betel Live Export from Brazil. “I am a stateless person who never existed! I exist only in the eyes of the people who love me, believe in me. I exist only in my struggle, and also in the eyes of individuals who signed the UNHCR #IBelong Campaign. And I will soon make sure to exist in the legal books of one of these 196 countries all over the world”, said Mamo.
The WCC has a long history of advocating for the human rights of the most vulnerable, the forgotten, the marginalised ones of our societies. “Stateless people are no exception to this decades-old tradition and the pilgrimage of justice and peace is a further invitation to shed light on their plight and bring them to the centre”, noted Semegnish Asfaw, WCC programme executive for international affairs. “In our advocacy work, we find it important to create opportunities, whenever possible, for stateless people to share personally their stories, struggles and aspirations, and not only speak on their behalf.”
Radha Govil, legal officer for the UNHCR Statelessness Section, revealed during the webinar that the most important ingredient to eradicating statelessness is political will and it is incumbent on the international community to work together to ensure that statelessness is resolved. “UNHCR looks forward to continuing its fruitful collaboration with the WCC, and to expand its partnerships with faith-based organisations to raise greater awareness and encourage practical action so that together we can end statelessness by the year 2024”, said Govil.
Video recording of the webinar
The Den Dolder Recommendations to Protect the Stateless and End Statelessness
WCC Assembly Statement on the Human Rights of Stateless People
WCC recognizes efforts of UNHCR #IBelong campaign to end statelessness
