People in the community

My name is Melissa, my pronouns are (she/her) and I’m part of the Statefree team.The thing that annoys me the most about statelessness is the lack of knowledge and viable rules around the topic. Stateless people are at the mercy of government agencies. You have to hope that the person working there is in a good mood, has prior experience with statelessness and therefore can help you in finding a solution.I sincerely hope that one day the circumstances of birth won’t matter anymore. Everyone gets to decide for themselves who they want to be and nobody is judging them for it. At Statefree I am responsible for creating and organising new content for the community. If you have any ideas or would like to share something on our blog let me know!

I am @statefree.world founding member and serious about having fair and equal opportunities for every human being of any gender identity, age, religion and worldview, ethnic background and nationality or origin. My pronouns are (she/her).I hope that in the near future people no longer have to prove their personal human value based on the colour or the availability of a passport.With @statefree.world we aim to raise awareness for #statelessness. We will cultivate a community characterised by collective, local or societal support and we will do our best to create a sense of belonging for every member. At Statefree I am responsible for: Spreading the word - communication, marketing, cooperations. Do you see any opportunity in working with us? Get in touch!

My name is Margarida (she/her), I’m an anthropologist and junior lecturer at the University of Amsterdam. I contribute to Statfree mostly with writing and research. Through my research on statelessness and “unclear nationality” in Germany, I realized how isolating and disempowering the experience of statelessness can be, which is why I’m happy to see Statefree grow as a community of stateless people and their allies.

I am Magdalena, my pronouns are (she/her). I love everything colorful, good food and building a great Statefree community.Knowing that we are social beings, it is important to build our social qualities. So for me, a real community means supporting each other. The more we help the more we can love and comfort each other and feel responsible for each other.So I hope that in a few years/months the Statefree Community will be a place that especially supports stateless people and offers a space where they can openly exchange ideas to help each other and where people who have never heard of statelessness can learn about it.

My name is Jonas (he/him) - I am a founding member of statefree and really proud of what we have achieved as a small group of people so far - waiting for more opportunities to come with the whole power of the community.Some years ago, one evening Christiana told me her story about Morocco and this was the first time I’ve heard of statelessness. This story and not knowing about the state of being stateless was horrifying for me. I trust that we can make more people aware of statelessness and help people to form this community for a better coexistence. I hope that in a few years everyone on this planet will know about statelessness and most importantly that all stateless people will feel like they belong and know their rights. And as a community we try to achieve this even faster and make everyone on this planet feel comfortable - at least a little bit :)

I am Hannah (she/her),  the second chairperson of Statefree. In this position I am responsible for all financial and administrative aspects of the association. As an ally I am aware of my own privileges and make use of this knowledge to support the ones who need my solidarity.What upsets me the most is that the whole topic is insanely obscure. People affected by statelessness are not only exposed to enormous psychological pressure and insecurity, but also have to live with an incomprehensible legal framework and almost randomly determined individual consequences.

Dear Community, We are Statefree. Statefree is a newly founded non-profit organisation that focuses on empowering stateless people through community and belonging. What we do:Holding space We offer a digital space for stateless people and their allies. In this space they can share their experiences, learn from each other and connect to each other.Increasing Visibility In order to solve a problem, it has to be visible. Through different projects we want to encourage stateless people to become more visible people. You can find our current project hereCreating Awareness   We aim to inform the broader public about statelessness through media, public speaking, events and our own communication channels. The intention is to mobilise and motivate broader society to become allies and join the mission of improving the live of stateless people. How we do it: Collectiveness, Belonging and Empowerment. These values describe how we want to act and what we are striving for with our work.  Learn more