The Disgrace of the Invisible Millions

There are, according to Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, about 12,000,000 stateless people in the world today. That is more than the combined populations of Norway, Jamaica and Albania. Clearly, then, statelessness is not an aberration: a rare hexagonal peg in a world of round and square ones. The numbers indicate that there is something seriously wrong with humanity's definition of nationality. Statelessness is, per se, an impossibility. It is as good as telling a man that he does not exist, or a woman that she is on the wrong planet, as there is nowhere on earth where she could be allowed to live in peace. The general consensus is that one is entitled to the nationality of one's place of birth (jus soli), although there are other criteria, such as entitlement through the nationality of one's parents (jus sanguinis), or citizenship through marriage. Chaos reigns, however, and many countries do as they please. For instance, there are about 27 states that accept the jus sanguinis criterion, but only with regards to the father, so, if the father happens to be unknown, well, welcome to Limbo! 

Mehran Karimi Nasseri who spent 18 stateless years (1988-2006) in Terminal 1 of  Charles De Gaulle Airport, Paris

This brings me to the case of Shamima Begum. Early this week, the British government revoked her citizenship. This is a gross abuse of power. If Ms. Begum broke the law, she needs to be tried like anyone else who breaks the law. Fine, it may be costly and and the exact details of her involvement difficult to ascertain, but surely that cannot be an excuse for British law enforcement to renege on its responsibilities. The Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, justified his actions by claiming that Ms. Begum was also a Bangladeshi national and that therefore the decision would not make her stateless, since otherwise his decision would not have been allowed under British law. This is not actually the case. Yes, she is still within the age-limit (21) to apply for a Bangladeshi passport, but as with all applications, acceptance is not guaranteed; and indeed, the Bangladeshi authorities have already made it clear that the request would be rejected. There is also the fact that Ms. Begum is in a remote refugee camp in a war zone in Syria, with no access to consular assistance, so that applying for another citizenship would have been, and remains, a real hurdle. Of course, many people in the UK would rather see the back of this woman and her newborn baby and Mr. Javid was no doubt emboldened by this when pronouncing decision. He would have done better if he had explained the mechanisms that could ensure that Ms. Begum would have not longer been a treat to the British people, while dealing with the case as the law and decency dictates. 

Bobby Fischer, made stateless in 1992 by the US

I will conclude with another notorious example, namely the US revoking the passport of the Chess Grandmaster Bobby Fischer, allegedly because he had taken part in a tournament in Yugoslavia, which was at  the time under US sanctions. The US wanted Fischer behind bars and long-term rival and friend, Boris Spassky of the USSR, wrote to President George W. Bush pleading for clemency, or at least to allow him to share Bobby's cell, together with a chess set! Eventually, it was Iceland that went to the rescue by granting Bobby Fischer, who was at the time stranded in Japan, Icelandic citizenship in 2005.

Nationality is a convention: birds and clouds fly freely across borders. Perhaps it is a necessary one while we are still so insular and small minded. However, no person or convention, ever has the right to deprive people of their right to belong to the earth. Ever!