Interview
You are known for your great initiative and passion for ending statelessness. Why, from your perspective, is it the responsibility of churches to advocate for this important initiative?
Bishop Brown: My perspective is grounded in scriptures. And I believe that the churches have a biblical mandate. God told the children of Israel in Exodus 23:9, “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.” The responsibility of churches is to help take care of strangers, to provide for them, shelter them, and protect them. Hebrews 13:2 encourages the children of God: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” I believe that when people are hurting it is the responsibility of the churches to help bring them relief. Churches are a part of community life – wherever they are and whatever affects a community or country also affects the church.
Churches cannot turn a blind eye to the plight of poor and suffering people. We are called upon to stand for justice, fight for the widows, and to defend the helpless. Churches cannot ignore such clear instructions. That will be a Christianity that doesn’t reflect the character and mission of Christ who founded the faith. Churches are called to daily action in the name of Christ in the cause of the poor and needy. Stateless persons are no exceptions.
What are the human rights most often violated when a person is stateless?
Bishop Brown: When people are stateless, that means they don’t hold citizenship in any country on the earth. It is like the story of a refugee from Ivory Coast who took refuge in Liberia during that country’s second civil war, which occurred between 28 November 2010 to 11 April 2011. When the Liberia refugee agency decided to resettle him after that civil war, he didn’t hold a birth certificate, citizen identity, or passport from his previous country. Apparently his parents, who settled in Ivory Coast when he was a little child, passed away without substantial information on his nationality. When the agency tried to resettle him in a southern African country – where his parents may have claimed to come from, he was rejected. He was returned to Liberia and resettled in the southeast of the country. The Liberian Refugee Act of 1993 doesn’t incorporate the protection of stateless persons. The issue wasn’t as pronounced as it is now. Now we are set on a campaign to repeal the refugee act to incorporate the protection of stateless persons.
Stateless persons lack legal rights to education and healthcare. They could be easily arrested for violation of immigration laws. Their children are at risk of being considered and treated as illegal aliens. Stateless persons do not have voting rights in their country of residence.
It is amazing that more than 20,000 birth certificates have been printed for children in Liberia! Does this kind of progress give you hope?
Bishop Brown: Yes, it does. First, it drives a commitment to raising awareness on the causes and prevention of statelessness in Africa and beyond. It also provides a small opportunity to do something to help promote actions against statelessness, whether it is organizing community meetings and awareness, or training community leaders including school teachers, health workers, and young people as “volunteer field registrars” who utilize Ministry of Health of Liberia birth registration forms to go from house to house to register children under 12 years old, so they can submit the registration to the government agency through Church Aid Inc. for collation and printing of birth certificates. Or actions can gear towards repealing gender discriminatory nationality laws that prevent Liberian children born to non-Liberian fathers overseas from being considered citizens of Liberia.
All of these little actions give me hope that statelessness can be addressed. That stateless persons can be relieved of the hurdles they encounter daily. That, if churches join in playing their part, the story will be written to incorporate their actions in ending statelessness, globally. We remain grateful to World Council of Churches for our incorporation in this intervention almost 10 years ago.
The other thing I see daily is the plight of children, vulnerable children – and their parents who struggle daily to find food to eat, to go to school, to access healthcare, etc. That breaks my heart as we engage local communities and try to reach families with awareness – on birth registration and causes and prevention of statelessness, and assistance in acquiring a birth certificate.
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Bishop Kortu K. Brown from the Apostolic Pentecostal Church in Liberia.
Courtesy of Bishop Brown
