The plight of the stateless

WITH the goal of humanising the experience of statelessness, the Jesuit Refugee Service South Africa (JRS) has launched a campaign to raise awareness about the lives of young people born to refugees who encounter numerous barriers due to not having an ID number.

While possessing an ID is considered part of one’s basic human rights, the “This Is Home” campaign – a collection of short videos – depicts the lives of five young people who are denied the right to a bursary, work, and the ability to vote despite being eligible for citizenship by naturalisation.

JRS SA advocacy co-ordinator Abigail Dawson said that the campaign intends to humanise the experience of young people who face social challenges as a result of conflicts or contradictions in the law.

“Being stateless essentially means you are not recognised by any state. People who are stateless or at risk of becoming stateless face compounding barriers in accessing social services.

“For many of these young people, they know no other place. Having either lived in South Africa from a young age or being born here, their legal status in the country is uncertain.

“Statelessness is often not known and legal pathways in South African law exist for people in these situations to access a regular status in South Africa. These include citizenship by exemption and citizenship by naturalisation. While these legal provisions are progressive and provide some pathways for young people to access citizenship, existing gaps in the law and practice perpetuate statelessness.

“These gaps have been further impacted by the pandemic as the Department of Home Affairs has closed its citizenship section, meaning that these applications, among other services, have been temporarily suspended,” said Dawson.

Ali Kipundu, who was born in South Africa to Congolese refugee parents, had to drop out of university in 2019 due to not having sufficient funds to pay off the student debt. Additionally, Kipundu said he was unable to secure any funding through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme because he was not considered a citizen.

“When I dropped out of UJ, I immediately started looking for a job to at least help my family. There was a man from a call centre who called me after he had received my CV. He said that I should show up for an interview with an ID but after I told him about the document I was using, he said he could only employ me if I have an ID.

“I wish people could understand that being stateless means that person is not recognised as a citizen in their parents’ country of birth or their own country of birth. Statelessness prevents those who are affected by it from participating in society, and the reason why I think it is important for this story to be told is so that there’s an understanding that stateless people struggle to pursue their dreams,” said Kipundu.

With the refugee reception offices still closed, head of strategic litigation at the UCT Refugee Rights Clinic, Sally Gandar, said that the clinic continues to see individuals daily who are experiencing issues with that system and, as a result, have not received renewed documentation.

“While the online renewal system has enabled some asylum seekers and refugees to renew their documents, the majority are still struggling to get their documentation renewed.

“The impact of this is that many people have employers who insist on a renewed document in order for the individual to continue working. A valid document is also required in order to register the birth of a child. These are just some ways that individuals are impacted.”

THE ‘THIS Is Home’ campaign, started by the Jesuit Refugee Service South Africa, aims to help those who are stateless.