Look at the Ten Million Stateless Refugees We Don't Know

By Anne RinaudoWednesday 18 Jul 2018Open House InterviewsLifeReading Time: 2 minutes

The Thai cave rescue of the Wild Boars soccer team and their assistant coach gripped the world. It also highlighted that some team members and the coach are stateless people. The Thai government has now offered to make them citizens.

But what of the 10 million other stateless people in the world? People like the Rohingya who fled ethnic violence in Myanmar for Bangladesh and the massive Cox’s Bazaar refugee camp.

Caelin Briggs is a Senior Policy Advisor in Conflict and Displacement, for World Vision. She has just returned from Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar Bangladesh. On Open House, Caelin talked with Stephen O’Doherty about the difficulties facing stateless people. The camp faces ongoing challenges, lately the danger of monsoon rains.

No papers, no rights

If a person is stateless they are denied many basic rights. Stateless people go without education, without medical care, or legal employment. No right to a passport or other legal documents curbs your ability to move freely. Stateless people can’t open a bank account, buy a home or get married.

Ethnic and religious discrimination

Stateless people are discriminated against in many ways and the government policies that deny them citizenship are often rooted in discrimination based on their ethnicity or religion. In Myanmar, for instance, the government recognises 135 different ethnic groups. However, the Rohingya ethnicity who have lived in the area for generations, are denied citizenship under the 1982 citizenship laws. Even children born in Myanmar are not granted citizenship unless their parent is a citizen.

They have nothing and need everything

Over half a million Rohingya refugees have fled violence in Myanmar. The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar. The latest exodus began on 25 August 2017, when violence broke out in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. The vast majority of Rohingya refugees reaching Bangladesh are women and children, including newborn babies. Many others are elderly people requiring additional aid and protection. They have nothing and need everything.

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Look at the Ten Million Stateless Refugees We Don’t Know