Almost 7 years after the start of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, the international community still struggles to help the 2 million refugees and almost 3 million internally displaced persons who have not been able to return home. Martin Savidge hosts Aidan Goldsmith and Sawsan Al-Sayyab of the International Rescue Committee.
There are more than 200 sovereign states that govern the 6.7 billion people in the world. But large groups of people have fallen through the cracks of international law and lack many of the benefits of belonging to a nation-state. Our Stateless to Statehood project explores the relationship between individuals, ethnic groups and states -- from the 12 million people without any citizenship to the tens of millions yearning to form entirely new nations. The project focuses on three groups:
- Citizens of nowhere - Every day, about 12 million people wake up as citizens of no nation at all. These men, women and children are scattered across six continents and excluded from virtually all the benefits of nationality -- a passport, the right to vote, land ownership, access to health care and legal employment. From Rohingyas in Myanmar to Nubians in Kenya and Haitians in the Dominican Republic, stateless individuals live without the protection and recognition of the government that rules the place where they live. On June 10, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the first-ever American legislation to recognize and reduce statelessness, which also addressed issues of global stability and security. The issue encompasses a tangle of nationalistic politics, ethnic discrimination and international human rights law.
- Refugees are victims of violent conflict who are unable or unwilling to return to their country of nationality. Currently, 16 million people are recognized by the United Nations High Commission on Refugees as refugees or asylum seekers. Palestinians, Iraqis, Afghanis and Somalis are the largest refugee groups currently living outside their countries of origin. Their country of nationality cannot protect them, and they typically rely on international bodies to provide them with aid and sufficient livelihood.
- State-seekers are groups striving for autonomy and national self-determination. They often view themselves as stateless peoples. Even though most of these groups have formal, legal ties to nation-states, they often seek to attain a state that will better serve their interests. While around 200 million people belong to groups seeking secession or greater autonomy, a small fraction are actively involved in these struggles. Kurds, Uyghurs, Tibetans and Basques are a few of the groups whose situations we explore.
"Stateless to Statehood" examines the root causes of statelessness in the post-colonial period, in the the aftermath of major wars and the break-up of empires. We're identifying potential ways to solve statelessness via legal and political avenues, as well as exploring the themes of nationalism and ethnic identity.
Stateless to Statehood
Worldfocus Radio: Iraqi Refugee Crisis
In South Sudan, schools still function under trees
Jen Marlowe is an independent journalist with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. She is currently documenting and writing about education, infrastructure and health care, which remain among the most vital needs in rebuilding South Sudan.
Worldfocus Radio: Haiti and DR — Unequal Neighbors
Martin Savidge hosts Marselha Gonçalves Margerin of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights and Michele Wucker of the World Policy Institute to discuss these unequal neighbors. From racism and hate crimes to migration and increased trading, they examine the relations between Haiti and the Dominican Republic and the role of the U.S.
Ethnicity still divides Bosnia, threatening its fragile peace
An estimated 100,000 people were killed and another 2 million displaced during Bosnia's civil war 14 years ago. Special correspondent Kira Kay and producer Jason Maloney of the Bureau for International Reporting recently traveled to central Bosnia to report on how one ethnically-partitioned school mirrors the country's struggles with identity today.
Turkey’s Kurds seek justice for unsolved murders
Correspondent Gizem Yarbil and producer Bryan Myers recently traveled to the Kurdish enclave of Diyarbakir in eastern Turkey for a closer look at the allegations that the Turkish government had engaged in a so-called "dirty war" against the Kurds.
Somali journalist on culture of violence and crippled press
Mustafa Haji Abdinur, an AFP journalist and the founder of Radio Simba in Somalia, sits down with Martin Savidge to discuss the culture of violence in daily Somali life and the war against the independent press. Since 2007, fighting in Somalia has killed 19,000 civilians and displaced 1.5 million Somalis.
Conflict endures in Ethiopia’s ethnic Somali Region
The violent, separatist conflict in southeastern Ethiopia has claimed thousands of lives over the last 15 years. Former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia David H. Shinn answers questions about the roots of this under reported conflict and whether it could be the next Darfur.
Somali pirates: Behind the news
As word comes of another pirate hijacking - this time 700 nautical miles east of the coast of Somalia - Worldfocus producer Connie Kargbo traces the roots of the ongoing Somali pirate situation.
Over 12 million people worldwide have no citizenship
Around the world, an estimated 12 million individuals lack nationality or citizenship in any nation. This means they have no legal right to a passport, employment, or housing. Explore this Worldfocus map for more information about statelessness around the globe.
South Yemenis clamor for secession from Yemen
Worldfocus producer Mohammad Al-Kassim writes about the separatist movement in Southern Yemen - an under-reported story that could have major implications for the United States.