Zebu coffee farm. Madagascar

Zebu coffee farm. Madagascar

Stateless in America. Stateless people in the United States.

The United States is home to estimated 4,000 stateless persons who live in limbo and have their human rights violated, and a lot of restrictions imposed on them since they are citizens of nowhere.

There are two very important documents that protect stateless persons, UN 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and UN 1961 Convention Related to the Reduction of Statelessness, and U.S. is not a signatory member of any of those.

Statelessness is crime against humanity and we have to do everything in our power to protect and prevent statelessness from happening.

Most people take passports for granted but stateless persons who consider “unwanted”, “unrecognized” in our society. We tend to believe that statelessness does not exist in our country because all media shifted their attention to undocumented immigrants without covering statelessness issue.

Domestically, we also promote statelessness by allowing US citizens to renounce their citizenship on voluntary basis even though they do not have any other citizenship or permanent residency from other nation. This should not be happening. This is not protection against statelessness but promotion of statelessness on voluntary basis.

This video was shot by UNHCR highlighting the issue of statelessness in the United States. I want to share my story with you as exactly how it had happened to me. On December 29, 2011 it will be one year since I got stuck in US territory of American Samoa and no actions were taken so far.

Just imagine yourself in the situation when you travel on vacation somewhere and were not allowed to return back to your home forever. Imagine not having citizenship and not being protected by any government; no consulate or embassy to run to and seek help or assistance because you are “nobody”.

Immigration Reform 2012. Stateless People in America

My year of 2012. How it started.

I am stateless United States resident who lived in this country for the past 16 years. My former country, U.S.S.R. ( Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) ceased to exist and along with that my citizenship. I was living in the United States in legal limbo where currently there is no escape due to our broken immigration policy. On December 29, 2011 I traveled for New Year holiday to the United States territory in South Pacific, American Samoa where I got stranded since. As a stateless person, I don't have country to claim but my long term residency for 16 years was in the United States and due to statelessness leaves me in most difficult situation to fight with local and federal authorities to find the solution to my fate. US officials position was that I "self deported myself" when I left the mainland of the United States. But question is how someone could deport himself from the US to US territory? Can this be possible? United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Department of Interior who oversees this territory, Attorney General Office of American Samoa, the Governor of American Samoa and the Congressman Office of American Samoa in Washington say NO. So, the question now is with Department of Homeland Security in Washington to resolve the statelessness issue of estimated 4,000 people living in the United States with no nationality and citizenship who found themselves in limbo and became the victims of broken immigration policy of the United States. Everyone knows what a refugee is, but many don't know what it means to be stateless.

I am here try to explain this to American audience about life of stateless people, as apparently the United States media continuously bombarding news about "illegal immigrants" and "undocumented aliens" without covering the global phenomenon of stateless people living in the United States. It's not their fault that some people left without country and nationality after their former states dissolved from the map leaving them without papers and identity.

Nationality is a fundamental human right that millions of people in the world don't enjoy. It is a foundation of identity, dignity, justice and security. Statelessness is crime against humanity. It is something the world should be ashamed of.

There is a right to a nationality under international human rights law and anyone who does not have a nationality is a victim of human rights violation. The House of Representative in 2009 approved a section on statelessness bill as part of H.R.2410, the Foreign Authorization Act for 2010-11. This legislation is still pending in the US Senate for consideration.

Statelessness is often accompanied by the deprivation of a host of basic rights and discriminatory treatment, particularly with respect to freedom of movement and property rights. In this case, the United States Government is often reluctant to acknowledge the presence of stateless persons on their territories. Where the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration of Department of State looking at? Why nothing have been done to reduce statelessness in the United States?

Citizenship is one of the basic human needs, because it helps to secure many of the other human rights and gives you a sense of belonging. Stateless people in the United States also covered by the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution, which provides that no one shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

Will finally the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Custom Enforcement, the Congress, Department of State, the President of the United States act to solve this problem of statelessness in the United States? Tricky question and politically motivated. Globally, the United States Government is concerned about statelessness as a human rights and humanitarian issue but they continue to have their eyes closed and ignore statelessness on their own territories. Can someone answer this question? Why such democratic country as United States refuse to deal with statelessness issues in our own soil but preach human rights protection abroad?

Most people take passports very much for granted, except those who have ever been without one. They know how confining it is to be without the right paperwork. They know what it's like to take the first step into the ghastly limbo of statelessness; a ghoulish existence outside of the law and its protection. The life of stateless person, is one of degradation, exposure to exploitation and fear.

Current United States law does not provide stateless people with any legal status. Unable to return to their former countries, stateless individuals living in the United States risk being detained and must apply annually for permission to work. They also face travel restrictions, and are often required to report regularly to immigration officials that can last indefinitely.

Preventing and reducing statelessness requires first that governments, civil society groups, and international and regional organizations recognize the problem, its causes, and the suffering those people going through particularly in the United States. The reason the United States having problems with stateless people is that this Government never signed or ratified 1954 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, which provides a framework for protection of stateless persons. Additionally, the United States Government never signed or ratified 1961 United Nations Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, which contains provisions to prevent and reduce statelessness.

If civil society has a keen interest in elevating the importance of this issue, Government should have a solemn obligation to do the same. We should create awareness within the United States Administration, the Congress and the public about stateless people and the challenges they encounter. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees mandate is to prevent and reduce statelessness, and to protect stateless persons. In 2006, United States Administration strongly advocated adoption of UNHCR's Executive Committee Conclusion on Identification, Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless Persons. What happened with that? Can current Administration give some explanation?

We should be guided by the proposition that everyone should have the ability to belong, to consider themselves, legally as well as socially, part of a larger community whenever they reside. Without "the rights to have rights", stateless people are among the most vulnerable in the world. The United States Government should come up with a mechanism to regularize a stateless person's status. Due Process Clause of 14th amendment of United States Constitution applies to "natural persons protected by the due process clause, these includes all human beings regardless of race, color, or citizenship". As the Supreme Court of US said in 2001, "the due process clause applies to all 'persons' within the United States, including aliens, whether their presence here is lawful, unlawful, temporary or permanent". If the United States Congress has total authority over all immigration law, they should not be blind and force the comprehensive immigration reform to take place urgently. If United States Government was able to board Chinese Activist Chen on the plane without passport and visa, and grant him partial citizenship rights, it means we can easily solve the problem and fate of stateless United States residents in a matter of seconds.

Stateless people in the United States cannot be branded for the rest of their life. They require urgent response from the United States Administration. Stateless people are in desperate need of help because they live in a nightmarish legal limbo. United States Government is a signatory member of United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights". Article 1 says: "Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status". Article 2 states: "All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law". Article 7 states: "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country". But for most stateless people this is a big challenge.

Statelessness is a global phenomenon that currently affects as many as 12 million people worldwide. New cases continue to arise every day as states struggle with the challenge of ensuring that everyone enjoys a nationality. The Congress of the United States must address the status of stateless persons, their human rights in the United States and act promptly to find better solution. Citizenship or nationality is the essential link between an individual and the State. Statelessness is not an unsolvable problem. The United States Government should respect the basic human right of all stateless individuals on their territories, adhere to international standards to protect stateless people, reduce statelessness by facilitating acquisition of nationality and citizenship. Stateless people in the United States live at daily risk of human rights infringements. Many are trapped in a nightmarish legal limbo from which there is currently no escape.

In the case of a stateless person with no papers to enter another country, to where on Earth can he be deported? Only oceans, the skies over them. They cannot legally enter another state where they face the same illegalities, which face them them in deporting state. Then there is the question of their consent. They are under no obligation to enter a country to which they don't want to go. Both human rights and just national law itself defends the individual against such coercion.

International Human Rights law, international relations and domestic decision making have impacted the ability of international refugee law to protect one of the most powerless groups, namely, stateless people. The United States Government don't seem to have taken the phenomenon of statelessness into account when developing their intricate, complex and at times confusing policies.

Let me remind you the words of the Irish American Cardinal, Timothy Dolan, who said: "When you have a policy that splits up families, when you have a policy that drives people underground, when you have a policy where now the Government, whether it be in Arizona or Alabama, is asking our soup kitchens to ask for documentation before they give people food or housing or clothing or medical care, that's not right. That's not Catholic. That's not Christian. That's not religious. And it's not American".

Most people still getting hard to understand how it's possible to become stateless. I would recommend to read articles about statelessness, and as stateless myself, I also want to give example how I became stateless after my former country ex Soviet Union dissolved. Some conservative people here try to jump into conclusion without obtaining facts first and getting some knowledge about statelessness issue. Education is important at all levels and everywhere. It is at that point we gain understanding. We got to remember that we are still students and always be. Here we go:

Imagine that United States ceased to exist and all of sudden we got new 50 independent countries on the map. Saying that, let say you were born in Alabama as United States citizen but you live and work now in Rwanda. The federal law and US constitution that once said that person born in the United States automatically become citizen is not valid any longer. Alabama as other new 50 countries adopted new constitution and new immigration/citizenship law. Your United States passport and citizenship do not have any value according to new law of the Republic of Alabama. So, after 16 years in Rwanda you decided to return back but your passport became useless and airlines won't board you on their flight due to lack of documents you have. So, your next step is try to locate embassy of Alabama in Rwanda. I am doubt Alabama will open embassy there, your best shot will be South Africa. The consular section reviewed your case and became very sympathetic about your situation and decided that according to the law of Alabama you do not qualify as citizen of the place of your birth by law. You try to convince then that Alabama was part of USA and you should become citizen of Alabama but in response you got letter of denial of your citizenship because rules of those new independent 50 countries don't recognise person outside their country boarders when they became independent. So, you realise that you became stateless with no country to go, no other former states of USA to claim you. You became in legal limbo. You stuck in Rwanda and Rwanda issued deportation against you as a stateless person but unable to deport you as you have no country to go. Rwanda will persecute you, detain you and your only help is to fight with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to help you to find some sort of solution in your case.

I hope this example will give you a light to the fate of stateless people living like this  in the US, those who used to be citizens of former Yugoslavia and Soviet Union,and what they are going through.

When there is no fear, no afflictions and no worries, that is truly the Divine, heavenly state.

P. S. This article was published also on CNN Ireport

Fighter

The life we live in is an amazing journey which is in fact capable to some changes we were not aware of. It can deliver some surprises we were not waiting for. Part of those unexpected presents could be challenging, some of them could turn to be more pleasant and some would drive you down the cliff. We all have some purpose in this life, something that it was stored for you and me to be revealed sooner or later with the right key to be used in order to discover the path you would take which will lead to discover the true meaning of your existence in this universe.

But one important thing that is matter: Try to take anything from this life, either it's bad or good, as one day when you turn around you would realize that your game was over. And always follow the law of attraction. If you stop for a second to attract the positive energy in your well-being you would crash. Never say never. Positive attitude and great spirit are the driven factors which eventually put your inner I in the right place for the right time.