Founding Members
United Stateless started as a simple conversation between several stateless persons who found each other through social media, or by tracking the occasional newspaper article about individual cases. We began by comparing notes, and soon knew that we had something powerful in common — our stories.
A stateless life is one of terrible isolation, as the feeling of non-belonging is pervasive. We have united to help each other through a seemingly insurmountable challenge, and perhaps in the process will be able to help many others.
Karina
I have been stateless in the USA for over 20 years. I was born in the former Soviet Republic of Ukraine of Armenian descent and at age 4 my parents sought refugee status in Canada and in the USA.
Both attempts were denied and now as an adult, I have been living in stateless limbo. I've often times felt like the life I am living and the story that I have to tell isn't being heard by the law. It is my passion and motivation to educate, share and bring to light my story and the story of the stateless living in the USA.
Ekaterina
I was born the former Soviet Central Asia, arriving in the U.S. at age 16 as a High School student. The Soviet Union had just collapsed, and to travel, I was issued a Soviet passport. Many ethnic Russians were fleeing, fearing persecution, and my family urged me to try to continue my education in the safety of the USA.
Despite numerous attempts, I was not able to adjust my status. My home country stripped me of nationality in 2000, and considers me a citizen of the Soviet Union, a country which no longer exists. I have yet to see any of my family again.
Miliyon
The city I was born in became a different country overnight. Because I lived on the wrong side of the border, I faced persecutions by authorities.
When I fled to the U.S., my asylum application was denied. Ethiopian authorities allege I’m not a citizen, and I have no documents from Eritrea. If you don’t have a passport or a green card, you live a very sad life.
Hamid
I was born and raised in Burma (Myanmar) and belong to ethnic Rohingya, the world's most persecuted people. The entire Rohingya community became stateless as a result of discrimination based on ethnicity and religion.
I have migrated to Malaysia (in 1997) in order to escape from persecutions and oppression. I lived in Malaysia without having any status and finally was resettled to USA in 2015 as a refugee. I am stateless.
Nikolai
I came to the United States 12 years ago from Estonia — a country with a huge statelessness problem.
I believe that stateless people in America deserve to have rights! I want to encourage you to join our community of stateless people of America. Only by working together we have a chance to change the current situation.
Tatianna
I came to the US seeking asylim. I was detained with my child, and spent decades looking for solutions. I have worked tirelessly for decades, paying my taxes and hoping to see my other child again. My heart goes out to all the stateless people of the world.