Sarah was only 15 years old when her sense of normalcy was flipped upside down.
“I was born in Congo … . My mom is from Congo, and my Dad is Rwandan. We had an ordinary life. But at 15, both of my parents got arrested on allegations of spying.”
Whoa … Sarah quickly went into hiding, but that obviously wasn’t the safest way to live.
“Feeling threatened everyday I fled to Holland. My asylum application was rejected … . My only option was to try to apply for a Dutch temporary residence permit. During this process, I realized I’d lost both my Congolese and Rwanda nationality.”
Belgian Congo postage stamp
The Congo rejected her based on her dual nationality. Rwanda also didn’t recognize her as a citizen because she hadn’t lived or been born there.
So, Sarah was stateless.
This means that she’s not a citizen of any country. Instead, she’s treated as a “legal anomaly” and could be denied basic civil and economic rights.
“12 years later, I am stuck in the same situation. There’s no solution in sight. I can’t study or move my life forward. I wish I could start a family. Instead, I feel isolated and confused.”
Sarah may feel isolated, but her situation isn’t unique. There are 600,000 people in Europe — and 10 million worldwide, who are also in limbo.
“These individuals remain vulnerable to human rights abuses every day: destitution to detention.” — The European Network on Statelessness
But wait, there is a sunny side!
