Stateless for Three Generations: Legally Invisible, Alive but Unprotected
In this image, you see a family. Silent, with their eyes closed…
Because there are no words left to explain.
We are not a statistic.
We are a family that has been made stateless for three generations.
We belong to no country, no legal identity, and no future.
We are not citizens of any state — but we are human.
And this contradiction leaves us alive, yet unprotected, every single day of our lives.
In 2002, I was formally recognized as a refugee by UNHCR.
Yet this recognition remained only on paper. For 23 years, no identity document, no residence permit, no travel document, and no basic rights were ever granted. My wife was born stateless. My daughter was born into this same invisibility. A child was rendered legally nonexistent from the moment she was born.
Statelessness is not our choice.
It is a punishment passed down to us.
The 1951 Refugee Convention, the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, the principle of non-refoulement, and the right to identity and travel documents all exist on paper.
But these rights never reached us.
There is law — but no implementation.
There is protection — but it is inaccessible.
There is a file — but there is no solution.
A child’s future should not be reduced to a file number.
A mother’s safety should not be trapped in a “priority list.”
This message is not a complaint.
It is a call grounded in international law.
It is a reminder of human dignity.
Statelessness is not a statistic.
Statelessness is a mother who wakes up in fear every day.
Statelessness is a child who cannot dream because she has no identity.
Statelessness is a life that is recognized — but not protected.
We call on all international organizations:
Silence is not neutrality. Silence is part of this crisis.
Protection is not a favor — it is a legal obligation.
A solution is not charity — it is delayed justice.
We are still here.
We are still alive.
But for how long?
