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Statelessness: 12 million people do not have a nationality

“I am like a bird with nowhere to rest on the ground but which can’t spend his whole life in the sky.” – Yasser, stateless.

The break-up of the Soviet Union created legal and bureaucratic obstacles that still affect people today. After years of trying to get Ukrainian citizenship, the man pictured here has given up hope but his partner is determined to find a way to regularise his status so that he can live the rest of his life in peace and avoid deportation. “I’ve lost all hope to get my passport.  My only problem is that I cannot move because I cannot go beyond this town. Even in this region I can be arrested. I’m always concerned that I will be arrested and detained somewhere and that would cause me problems to find my way back home here. That’s why I almost never leave my house.”

(From the series Nowhere People, The World’s Stateless © UNHCR /G. Constantine, 2009)

IT IS ESTIMATED that about 12 million people across the world are in a similar situation to the man pictured because they do not have a nationality. This little-publicised state of statelessness is being highlighted by the Irish office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees this month.

Through his exhibition, ‘Nowhere People. The World’s Stateless’ (beginning today at The Atrium in the Department of Justice and Equality at St Stephen’s Green), photographer Greg Constantine shows that despite perceptions, nationality is not a universal birthright.

Stateless people have no legal identity, are citizens of no country and are some of the most vulnerable and invisible people in the world

People without a formal nationality are often unable to obtain identity documents and can be detained because of their statelessness. Access to education and health services, as well as employment can also be greatly limited.

Parents are not able to register the birth of their children, own property or travel freely. According to the UNHCR, statelessness often leaves a person without a sense of identity and with little or no voice. “Nowhere People serves as a reminder of why it is so urgent to resolve this global problem,” the Irish office says.

Making someone extremely vulnerable, statelessness occurs for a number of reasons. Discrimination against minority groups in nationality legislations, failure to include all residents in the body of citizens when a state becomes independent and conflicts of laws between states have all been factors for those who do not possess a nationality.

A well-known photographer in the US, Constantine decided to move to Asia in 2005 to document the plight of stateless people around the world. Sine then, his work has received a number of awards and has been published in a number of countries.

He has also released a book Exiled to Nowhere: Burma’s Rohingya which tells the stories of some of the world’s most oppressed and forgotten people, providing evidence of their courage – whatever the ground beneath their feet.

The UNHCR has a mandate to work with governments to prevent statelessness and to resolve those cases that already exist. This can be achieved through simple, low-cost actions, say staff. The global agency also works to protect the rights of stateless people and helps them to acquire nationality and documentation.

Among the groups featured in this month’s exhibition are the minority Rohingya from Western Myanmar. With a long history of statelessness and displacement, they have been among the thousands affected by recent violence in Rakhine State. More than 80 Rohingya refugees came to Ireland in 2009 as part of the Government’s resettlement programme.

“Still we don’t have nationality, we don’t have any right to call any land our home,” explains one refugee who is currently living in Bangladesh. “We can’t live in peace. People view us as if we don’t exist.”

The Dublin exhibition is free of charge and open to the public Monday to Friday from 9am to 6.30pm. The images of the world’s most vulnerable and forgotten people, like the one below, are also part of the PhotoIreland Festival from 5 to 19 July.

A stateless woman, pictured by Constantine in eastern Ukraine, holds her expired Soviet passport. She has been trying to receive Ukrainian citizenship for more than 10 years. Meanwhile, she does not get a pension despite working for more than 30 years.

(From the series Nowhere People, The World’s Stateless © UNHCR /G. Constantine, 2009)

See more at Greg Constantine’s website>

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7 Comments
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    Mute Annette
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    Dec 28th 2019, 8:35 AM

    Something seriously wrong here, this poor woman and her surviving daughter what she must have gone through!! Unimaginable

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    Mute Bernard Kilmurray
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    Dec 28th 2019, 8:37 AM

    Where were the lifeguards?

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    Mute John Horan
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    Dec 28th 2019, 8:46 AM

    @Bernard Kilmurray: There is a minimum size rule before you need a lifeguard.

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    Mute CC
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    Dec 28th 2019, 9:54 AM

    @John Horan: yeah I think of the pool is bigger than 200/250 sqm ? Read someone’s comment on another article. Just heartbreaking.

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    Mute Paddy Dunne
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    Dec 28th 2019, 10:04 AM

    I think the question has to be asked is what kind of pool is this ,is this a normal pool or is there some wave making mechanism in it to say that they were pulled into the deep part of the pool and not able to get out sounds sinister to me ,
    God bless that poor woman a holiday that cost her husband and children unimaginable

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    Mute Rory J Leonard
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    Dec 28th 2019, 9:58 AM

    Tragic, whatever the cause.

    More unroped easily accessible Lifebuoys, positioned adjacent to entry points / steps and to the side, should be mandatory for hotel pools.

    Buoys being too far away and all tied up seems the norm, which is no good in a panic scenario – likely with the story here.

    It’s a bit unrealistic to expect lifeguard cover at a hotel 24/7. Costs would be too prohibitive for all but very top end of the market.

    A small floatation device attached to a foot, no matter how good the swimmer, especially if not a regular, should not take from the enjoyment of a dip.

    One can’t be too careful with children near water.

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    Mute Dave Hammond
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    Dec 28th 2019, 11:35 AM

    @Rory J Leonard what a tragedy – poor family –

    I dont know why you speculate about buoys being likely far away – the pic of the pool in the article shows a large orange rung buoy right beside the pool ??

    Something doesn’t add up here ??

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    Mute Dublin
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    Dec 28th 2019, 6:32 PM

    I almost drowned in a hotel pool in Tenerife (Gran Tacande in Costa Adeje resort).
    My sister and mum came to save me but they too immediately began to struggle. They’re both better swimmers than me. There were TWO lifeguards on duty, both sitting atop a high chair supposedly looking out for this sort of thing. None of them saw or helped. It was only when I went to the bottom my mum screamed to the top of her lungs. She was screaming before but people though she was playing. When they realised it was serious, 3men dived in to immediately save me and pull me to the size where I had CPR.
    The lifeguards watched, then came down to inspect what was going on. They were almost EXACTLY useless. Never visiting the hotel again. Don’t underestimate how easy it could be to drown in shallow-is water.

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    Mute Marie Broomfield
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    Dec 28th 2019, 11:33 AM

    Some news media mad to add the non swimmers element . First it was possibly non swimmers, then it came as a direct quote from surviving child. As for the official report, BBC news said the pool was investigated and found not at fault but then added, the pools pumping system was being examined. So the pool is not in the clear yet. The state broadcasters are the only news media that can be trusted because they don’t have any reason to make a story juicier. Imo

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    Mute Bernard Kilmurray
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    Dec 28th 2019, 8:39 AM

    Where were the lifeguards???

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    Mute Breda Clarke
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    Dec 28th 2019, 5:52 PM

    So very sad but I can’t help but think why the dad used the steps to get into the pool. I know I’d jump in if my child was in difficulty as I can swim. I think a person who is not a confident swimmer would be inclined to use the steps.

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    Mute Barry Evans
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    Dec 28th 2019, 8:46 PM

    @Breda Clarke: that’s what you took from this? That he didn’t dive in like some movie action hero??

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    Mute Bopper Bops Holland
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    Dec 28th 2019, 1:34 PM

    What time did it happen

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    Mute nelliekel
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    Dec 28th 2019, 4:16 PM

    Doesn’t seem to be a run down flea pit of hotel so why is there no cctv as most hotels have it now if only for the compo culture

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    Mute Dublin
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    Dec 28th 2019, 6:40 PM

    Testing if my comments ever show up !

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    Mute Dublin
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    Dec 28th 2019, 6:36 PM

    Don’t underestimate

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