Blog Posts by Sarnata Reynolds

U.S. Immigration Reform May Finally Help Stateless People
May 09, 2013 Sarnata Reynolds Africa, Bangladesh, Burma, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Kuwait, Nepal, South Sudan, Sudan, Americas, Asia, Middle East, Statelessness

This post originally appeared on UN Dispatch.

Half Stateless
April 19, 2013 Sarnata Reynolds Kuwait, Middle East, Statelessness

This week at the first-ever Conference for the Stateless in Kuwait, I met Omran Al-Garashi. Since 1982, he has been arrested 15 times for his human rights activism. He took on many issues, one of which was the right of more than 100,000 stateless Kuwaitis to nationality. As a citizen, he technically had the right to freedom of speech, but in reality this was not the case. Instead, fighting for the rights of Kuwait’s stateless brought him a step closer to their experience. 

S. Sudan Takes Vital Step to Prevent Statelessness
November 30, 2012 Sarnata Reynolds Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Statelessness
South Sudan opened its second Nationality Directorate on November 28, and the government expects that offices will be opened in all 10 South Sudanese states by the new year. This is a tremendous step for the world's newest country and should greatly decrease the risk of statelessness.
Burma Raises Prospect of Rohingya Citizenship
November 02, 2012 Sarnata Reynolds Bangladesh, Burma, Humanitarian Response, Asia, Protection & Security, Statelessness
In an interview with The Hindu newspaper this week, Burmese Minister of Information U Ang Kyi said that his government is attempting to address the ongoing violence in Rakhine State through the development of a "win-win solution for all stakeholders." Acknowledging that treating the stateless Rohingya as trespassers was an underlying problem that needed to be addressed, he said the government was considering a process whereby “third-generation” R
Two Cases Show a World Divided on Nationality Rights
July 26, 2012 Sarnata Reynolds Middle East, Statelessness
These are strange times. Last week, Guor Marial, a marathoner originating from South Sudan, was permitted to run as an independent athlete at the Olympics because he holds no passport. But just a few days before, Emirati activist Ahmed Abdul Khaleq was deported from the UAE (the only country he has ever lived in) because he spoke out for the rights of stateless people.