Mr Drobot is one of the non-citizens of Daugavpils, a vast community of Russian speakers of Russian origin cannot vote and are deprived of any political activity.
Lebanon - April 2010
A demonstration organized by the Lebanese NGO CRTD-s to create awareness about gender discrimination in Lebanon. Women can not pass their nationality to their children and this can lead to statelessness.
Thailand - December 2011
Meesa's mother hopes that her daughter will one day receive Thai nationality. Hundreds of thousands 'hilltribes' -ethnic minorities living in Thailand's northern hills- lack citizenship and are stateless, although they have inhabited the region for several generations.
Hungary - February 2012
Marianna in Budapest has a travel document for stateless persons. Hungary, as one of the few countries in the world, has a special procedure for stateless persons to grant them a legal status: the 'stateless status'
the Netherlands - February 2012
Sabrina is 17 years old and was born in former Yugoslavia. As an eight months old sibling she migrated with her family to the Netherlands. Neither today's Bosnia nor the Netherlands will give Sabrina citizenship.
Citizens of Nowhere tells stories about statelessness worldwide. An estimated 12 million stateless people live around the world because of moving/changing borders, the arise of new nation states; and political (mis)management.
What does your life look like when you are formally not allowed to work, travel, vote or receive any welfare benefits? In what way do you feel connected to the country that doesn’t acknowledge your existence? How do you shape your identity when you lack a national identity?
In 2011 and 2012 Els Duran and Evelien Vehof traveled around the world to focus on the world of stateless people by writing, blogging and making videos. Read more...