Article
According to the United Nations, more than ten million people worldwide do not have a nationality. These people are not recognized as a citizen by any country and are therefore referred to as stateless people. Being stateless can mean various things, but it often leads to exclusion and a lack of access to basic human rights. Depending on the country of residence of the individual, they might not be able to attend school, open a bank account, or travel to other countries. Despite the far-reaching impact of statelessness, the topic is largely invisible. There is an extreme lack of public awareness.
While there is a steadily increasing number of non-profit organizations and individual activists who are fighting to end statelessness, the fragmented movement, disjointed initiatives, and lack of information are standing in the way of real progress. It is necessary to close the gap between those experiencing statelessness and those who are fighting to end it. The project Statefree.world aims to close this gap.
According to the United Nations, more than ten million people worldwide do not have a nationality.
The online platform builds a digital bridge and connects stateless people with their allies. As a website and forum, Statefree.world will focus on addressing the need for communication and exchange in the field of statelessness and encourages stateless people to share their stories. The mission is to utilize the power of collective experience and use it to co-create the truth about statelessness. The project aims to provide a platform for an authentic reflection of what it means to be stateless in today’s world. By inviting stateless people to speak up about their struggles and challenges, Statefree.world will simultaneously raise awareness and lay emphasis on the need for change and political support. Moreover, the platform will act as an information hub as well as a forum and aims to enable self-education of stateless people.
The platform encourages policy-makers and organizations to join the conversation and contribute to the crucial debate about what exactly is needed to support stateless people.
While the platform is mainly targeted at stateless people, collaboration with and participation of non-profits, activists, and policy-makers are crucial to solve the problem. Therefore, the platform encourages policy-makers and organizations to join the conversation and contribute to the crucial debate about what exactly is needed to support stateless people.
While recognizing the hardship caused by not having a nationality, the initiative chooses to move away from the negative connotation of the term “less” and chooses the word “free” instead. This is mainly because Statefree.world is driven by the belief in empowerment. Amid challenging circumstances Statefree.world will give stateless people the chance to take ownership of their narrative and create a community of belonging.
For more information about the project, visit the official website of Statefree.world.
Further Resources
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Statefree.world is live!
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Landecker Democracy Fellow Christiana Bukalo is featured in a radio report from Deutschlandfunk Nova. During this report she is talking about her experiences being stateless and how she wants to help other stateless people.
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Where Is Home?
An article about Landecker Fellow Christiana Bukalo was published in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. The article details Christiana's platform www.Statefree.world and the impetus behind her initiative.
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Forum for stateless people
The BR (Bayerischer Rundfunk) published an article about Landecker Fellow Christiana Bukalo. The article deals with Christianas experiences in the past and how she wants to improve the situation with her online-platform www.statefree.world
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The gap between stateless people and statelessness research
Landecker Fellow Christiana Bukalo published an article in the University of Melbourne Law school’s Critical Statelessness Studies Blog Series. In it, she describes closing the gap between Stateless People and Statelessness Research.