By Aminata Phidelia Allie just back from Dakar
A one-day media training on investigating and reporting on statelessness has ended in the Senegalese capital, Dakar.
It brought together media practitioners from Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, The Gambia and Sierra Leone.
Giving an overview of the issue, the head of Statelessness Unit in the office of the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR described the issue as “a very important phenomenon in terms of magnitude”.
Emmanuelle Mitte said that most policy makers were not aware of statelessness issues "plaguing" their citizens because it is “underreported and unknown”.
In West Africa alone, she disclosed, there were about one million stateless persons. This, she said, was just the tip of the iceberg, noting that everyone and all continents were affected by statelessness. In her presentation on the definition and concept of statelessness, Mitte described "identity" as what a person felt they were, and their nationality as a fact of law, adding “the two do not always meet”.
“A person without nationality has no identity and a person without identity is invisible and defenceless”, she explained. She identified failure to register a child at birth, desire to naturalize, technicalities in administrations, migration and gaps in laws as some of the causes of statelessness.
Further, the UNHCR head of unit highlighted as some of the consequences of statelessness the loss of identity, limited or no access to state protection, services and territory and no right to return. She admonished trainees to treat the issue with seriousness because “you can voice the issue and make it understood by both the public and authorities. You can make the invisible visible”.
She encouraged the participating journalists to partner with UNHCR as “we want you to investigate and report the issues of statelessness. We want you to educate the people of your countries and raise awareness amongst policy makers”.
Deputy Regional Protection Representative, Mathijs Le Rutte, noted that there were lots of “undelicious” issues around statelessness like murdering and disenfranchising people. He said most of those that rendered other people stateless were ignorant about the laws, noting that politicians especially did not want to have anything to do with a stateless person “as he can’t vote in elections”.
He emphasised the importance of the media’s reportage of the issues, adding “that is all we ask of you because we are partners and you can make a difference”.
(C) Politico 10/04/14
