Newsletter | April 2022

Welcome to the April 2022 newsletter from the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness. We are pleased to once again share with you our current activities, publications and opportunities, as well as relevant news and developments across the world.

Staffing News

This month we were thrilled to welcome back Research Fellow Katie Robertson who has returned from parental leave.  Katie will work on building on her highly successful pilot of the Stateless Children Legal Clinic in 2021 by expanding the Clinic in semester 2, 2022 and will also begin work on the Centre's ARC funded project on Statelessness In Australia.  With Katie's return we said farewell to Research Fellow Eliah Castiello who provided terrific administrative and research support while Katie was on leave.  In his time with us Eliah has, among many other things, managed the production of the Statelessness & Citizenship Review.  We wish Eliah all the best in his future endeavours.

Critical Statelessness Studies Blog

In the latest contribution to the CSS Blog - 

Reflection on the Emergence of Critical Statelessness Studies (CSS): Recognising the debt to, and divergence from, Critical Citizenship Studies (CCS)

In this blog entry, Thomas McGee, PhD candidate at the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness at the University of Melbourne, reflects on the emerging body of critical statelessness scholarship, and considers its relation to the more established field of Critical Citizenship Studies (CCS). He argues that critical perspectives on statelessness can benefit from the emphasis on claim-making and performative identity construction advanced by CCS, but that there remains a need to consider the unique dimensions of stateless experiences. Read the full piece.

Exclusion in the 1954 Convention’s Drafting Process: Insights from the Travaux Préparatoires

Betsy L. Fisher, an advocate and ally with United Stateless and lecturer at the University of Michigan Law School examines the previously unpublished travaux of the 1954 Statelessness Convention. She argues that they provide evidence of how stateless people were excluded from processes directly concerning them – a reality that is only now starting to be challenged. Read the full piece.

The Struggle for Identity in Exile: Refugee Protection Challenges in India

ONLINE EVENT | 5pm - 6pm, 11 May 2022

Roshni Shanker presents the first seminar as part of our new seminar series -Refugees, Citizenship & Statelessness: Asia in Focus.

This seminar will examine the various challenges that legal practitioners and refugee advocates face in advancing refugee rights in India while also highlighting some of the innovative legal strategies and tools that have been devised over the years to build a protection framework for refugees in the subcontinent.

McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellowships

The University of Melbourne invites applications for the McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme based at Melbourne Law School. For the current round (commencing in 2023), your PhD must have been awarded between 1 November 2019 and 23 June 2022. Applicants are invited to email a CV (including an up-to-date publications list) and a 2-3 page research proposal to law-research@unimelb.edu.au by Friday 6 May 2022. Enquiries can be directed to the same email address.

EOI deadline: 6 May 2022
Application deadline: 23 June 2022

Statelessness & Citizenship Review

Volume 4 Issue 1 of The Statelessness & Citizenship Review, to be published in July, is a special issue on the topic 'Children without a state', guest edited by Jacqueline Bhabha.  The deadline has passed for Volume 4 Issue 2, to be published in December 2022.

The next deadline, for Volume 5 Issue 1, is 1 October 2022.

Statelessness & Citizenship Reading Group

The Centre has launched a Statelessness & Citizenship Reading Group for 2022. The aim of the group is to create a space for in-depth discussion of texts on the topics of statelessness and citizenship, as well as to foster connections between those interested in these topics. The first session, facilitated by Adil Khan and Jordy Silverstein, was held on 6 April and the group will continue to meet on the first Wednesday of the month. If you would like to be involved, please contact jade.roberts@unimelb.edu.au.

Michelle Foster on ABC Mornings

On 11 April 2022, Centre Director Professor Michelle Foster spoke with Ali Moore on ABC Mornings about statelessness in Australia and the work of the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness. 

Peter McMullin Centre staff publications

• Silverstein, Jordana, ‘Book review, Anna Hájková, The Last Ghetto: An Everyday History of Theresienstadt (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020), p. 376,’ Gender & History 34, no. 1 (March 2022): 305-307

Peter McMullin Centre staff presentations

5 April - Dr Jordana Silverstein presented her paper Towards a History of the 'Union of Stateless Victims of Fascism,' as part of the UNSW History Seminar Series.

29 March -  Professor Michelle Foster and PhD researcher Sumedha Choudhury presented papers at an Online workshop on Discrimination in Border Control, as part of the Undoing Discriminatory Borders project

23 March - Professor Michelle Foster and affiliated researcher Prof John Tobin spoke on a panel at a Melbourne Law School Q&A session about the relevance of international law in seeking to understand the war in Ukraine.

17 March -  Professor Michelle Foster spoke at the launch of Janna Wessels’ book, The Concealment Controversy (CUP, 2021) at an online event organised by the Amsterdam Centre for Migration & Refugee Law 

8 March -  Affiliated researcher Professor Susan Kneebone provided expert commentary at the 'Gender Equality in Nationality Matters and the Prevention of Statelessness' roundtable, on International Women’s Day. The event was organised by the UNHCR's Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific and UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

Dr Carrie MacDougall, Prof Michelle Foster, Prof John Tobin & Prof Alison Duxbury formed a panel speaking about international law in the context of the war in Ukraine.

New academic publications

If you've recently published work and would like it promoted in the newsletter, please contact Thomas McGee and Deirdre Brennan.

1. Alam, Jobair, and Borhan Uddin Khan. "Ethnic Cleansing, Human Rights and the Politics of Nationalism in Post-colonial Myanmar: Is International Criminal Law Strong Enough to Save the Rohingya?" In Borhan Uddin Khan and Md. Jahid Hossain Bhuiyan (eds.) Human Rights and International Criminal Law, pp. 351-376. Brill Nijhoff, 2022.
2. Askola, Heli. "Discrimination against dual nationals in the name of national security: a Finnish case study." The International Journal of Human Rights (2022): 1-21.
3. Benoît, Catherine. "Border Transgression and Reconfiguration of Caribbean Spaces, by Myriam Moïse & Fred Réno (eds.)." New West Indian Guide/Nieuwe West-Indische Gids 96, no. 1-2 (2022): 171-172.
4. Ciftci, Ayse. "The Power of Artistic Counternarrative: Healing, Identity and Agency in Refugee Art." Københavns Universitet, Master’s thesis, (2022)
5. El tahhan, Suzan. ""BIDOONs": A Statelessness Plight in Kuwait." Journal of Legal and Economic Studies 8, no. 1 (2022): 1-30.
6. Gianni, Francesca Di. "Climate change and the risk for climatic statelessness'." Nijmegen Migration Law Working Papers Series (2022).
7. Gosewinkel, Dieter. Struggles for Belonging: Citizenship in Europe, 1900-2020. Oxford University Press, 2022.
8. Hari, Amrita, and Sugandha Nagpal. "The National Register of Citizens (NRC) in India and the potential for statelessness in situ: a cautionary tale from Assam." Contemporary South Asia (2022): 1-8.
9. Husain, Saddam, and Mohd Firoz Ahamed. "Place & Power: A study of Kurdish identity in Turkey." GeoJournal (2021): 1-15.
10. Iamamoto, Sue AS. "Layers of Indigenous Citizenship: Colonial, Republican and Plurinational Rights in Bolivia." Journal of Latin American Studies (2022): 1-25.
11. Karki, Ram. ‘Statelessness Among Former Bhutanese Citizens: A Public Issue of Concern.’ The Bhutan Journal, no. 3 (2022): 4-21.
12. Kashav, Jitendar, Navneet Kaushal, and Nisha Devi. "Migration of Kashmiri Pandits and the Question of Belongingness." AGPE The Royal Gondwana Research Journal of History, Science, Economic, Political and Social Science, no. 3 (2022): 118-125.
13. Kitchanapaibul, Siwarak, Tawatchai Apidechkul, Peeradone Srichan, Thanatchaporn Mulikaburt, Onnalin Singkhorn, Anusorn Udplong, Panupong Upala et al. "Status of the stateless population in Thailand: How does stigma matter in their life?" PloS one 17, no. 3 (2022)
14. Mathew, Manu V. "The Struggle Against the Citizenship Amendment Act in India: Recovering the Insurrectionary Praxis of Critical Pedagogy." Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies 19, no. 3.
15. Mekonnen, Daniel, and Sara Palacios Arapiles. "The Eritrean practice of the issuance of identity-proving documents with particular focus on the case of returnees from Ethiopia." Refugee Law Clinic Briefing Paper 1 (2022).
16. Mutung’u, Grace. "The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, Women and Digital ID in Kenya: A Decolonial Perspective." Business and Human Rights Journal 7, no. 1 (2022): 117-133.
17. Osario, Ruth. "Disabling Citizenship: Rhetorical Practices of Disabled World-Making at the 1977 504 Sit-In." College English 84, no. 3 (2022).
18. Perry, Charmane M. "‘Real Bahamians’ and ‘paper Bahamians’: Haitians as perpetual foreigners." Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies (2022): 1-19.
19. Philip, Neha. "Reconceptualization of Citizenship law: a critical analysis of the citizenship laws of India and Myanmar." University of Oslo, Master's thesis, 2021.
20. Priddy, Grace, Zoe Doman, Emily Berry, and Saleh Ahmed. "Gender-based violence in a complex humanitarian context: Unpacking the human sufferings among stateless Rohingya women." Ethnicities 22, no. 2 (2022): 215-232.
21. Quartey, Theophilus, Charles Peprah, and Anthony Kwame Morgan. "Determinants of National Health Insurance Enrolment Among People at Risk of Statelessness in Ghana." Research Square (2022).
22. Ramtohul, Ramola. "Identity, Citizenship and Belonging in Postcolonial Mauritius." In Iain Walker and Marie-Aude Fouéré (eds.) Across the Waves, pp. 157-179. Brill, 2022.
23. Rizal, Govinda. ‘Citizenship and Marriage Laws of Bhutan.’ The Bhutan Journal, 3 (2022): 22-40.
24. Shahid, Rudabeh, and Joe Turner. "Deprivation of citizenship as colonial violence: deracination and dispossession in Assam." International political sociology (2022).
25. Southwick, Katherine G. "How Statelessness Matters to Atrocity Prevention: Lessons from the Rohingya Case." In Proceedings of the ASIL Annual Meeting, vol. 115, pp. 203-206. Cambridge University Press, 2021.
26. Thwaites, Rayner. "Proof of Foreign Nationality and Citizenship Deprivation Pham and Competing Approaches to Proof in the British Courts." The Modern Law Review (2022).
27. Tripkovic, Milena. "Renouncing criminal citizens: Patterns of denationalization and citizenship theory." Punishment & Society (2022): 14624745221080705.
28. Vevstad, Vigdis, and Solveig Igesund. "Challenging Human Rights: Migration Law in Norway." In Law and Migration in a Changing World, pp. 563-607. Springer, Cham, 2022.

Recent Statelessness Global News and Developments

Bulgaria

This month the Bulgarian National Assembly adopted a draft proposal which amends the country's Health Insurance Act,  allowing displaced Ukrainians and stateless individuals fleeing Ukraine, who have received temporary protection in Bulgaria, to access medical services and the same free medical care available to Bulgarian citizens. Their healthcare will also be insured by the National Health Insurance Fund.

Malaysia

A welcome administrative shift in Malaysia includes the issuance of temporary documentation to stateless children, allowing them to access public schools and medical services.  A special committee preparing a report on undocumented foreigners in Sabah, calls attention to the rights of stateless children, including sea gypsies. The report will be released in mid-May 2022.

Myanmar

The Myanmar military has announced the termination of citizenship of 33 high-profile dissidents, a move critics have described as an abuse of human rights and a breach of international law. The dissidents include diplomats refusing to work for the military, members of a parallel government set up in opposition to last year’s coup, outspoken celebrities and prominent activists. 

Russia, Ukraine and World Response

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree in early April introducing visa restrictions for citizens of countries that Moscow deems “unfriendly” in response to sanctions over Ukraine. It also ordered the Russian foreign ministry and other bodies to decide on introducing personal entry restrictions on “foreign citizens and stateless people who commit unfriendly actions against Russia, its citizens or its legal entities.” 

The Russian invasion has brought  fresh hardships for the hundreds of thousands of Romani people in Ukraine. In a moment of proclaimed national unity, they face violence from not just the invading army but domestic vigilantes and even states welcoming refugees.

Many stateless people in Ukraine have - without proof of identity - effectively become trapped in areas of fighting as checkpoints proliferate across the country. The UN estimates Ukraine is home to about 36,000 stateless people, (though the number is likely to be much higher).  

Serbia

During a UN Security Council session in New York this month, Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selaković claimed the human rights of Serbs of Albanian ethnicity in Kosovo are under threat, after research revealed over 6000 ethnic Albanians have reportedly been systematically erased from voter lists, rendering them de facto stateless, in a move dubbed as 'administrative ethnic cleansing'. 

Switzerland

After an eight-year legal battle, a Swiss court has recognised the statelessness of Palestinian refugees from Syria and acknowledged their right to protection. The landmark case could open the door for other Palestinians to secure basic rights as refugees that have been denied to them since their ethnic cleansing by Israel.

Recent News Articles relating to Statelessness

Cyprus

Stateless children: the fight for Cyprus citizenship, Cyprus Mail, 3 April 2022

Kuwait

Unsung, unseen and unheard: Kuwait’s stateless Bidoon women speak out, The New Arab, 14 April 2022

Kuwaiti Bidoons went on hunger strike for 19 days. Has anything changed?, NPR, 27 April, 2022

Malaysia

High Court rejects citizenship for stateless KL-born man adopted by Malaysian couple in 2000, Malay Mail, 13 April 2022

Refuge for stateless kids, The Star, 11 April 2022

Nigeria

REPORTER’S DIARY: Four years tracking ‘stateless Nigerians’ through the paths of death, The Cable, 18 April 2022

Ukraine

Stateless Ukrainians: No nationality and now, no home, Aljazeera, 26 April 2022

United States

Hundreds of thousands of people are living in legal limbo in the US, PBS Newshour, 5 April 2022