New podcast shares stories of stateless people
People who arrived in Australia stateless tell of their experiences in a new podcast by the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness at the University of Melbourne.
A Holocaust survivor, a Palestinian born in Lebanon, and a Tamil woman are all guests on the new Peter McMullin Center on Statelessness podcast Being Stateless: An Oral History Podcast
‘Being Stateless: An Oral History Podcast’ features a Holocaust survivor, a Palestinian born in Lebanon, and a Tamil woman.
They talk to interviewer Dr Jordana Silverstein about what it was like to be forced to migrate to a new country; how they made a home and dealt with loss; and how they remember where they came from.
Dr Silverstein says, “The figures are not firm, but the United Nations High Commission for Refugees estimates that there are about 8,000 stateless people in Australia. It is probable there are many more, as Australia does not have a way of counting people, and some people would not in any case self-identify their status to the state.
“There was a large influx of stateless people after World War II. Wars, genocides and other world troubles continue to create situations where people must leave their home country if they are to survive.
“Having spaces to share stories of statelessness and migration can be important to people and communities. Oral history projects like this provide a vital way of archiving diverse and intersecting stories, and of showing what statelessness means to the people affected by it.
“Repeatedly in interviews, people reflected on how their situations made them think of other people. From their words, it became so clear that getting citizenship isn’t the end of statelessness for many people: that the effects, repercussions and feelings continue on into the future.”
Dr Silverstein says a theme of the research was the longing for a passport or other valid travel documents, which would enable people to travel and, perhaps, determine for themselves where they would live and who they could visit. Many people were clear that while the experience of statelessness was one part of who they are, it doesn’t describe their whole life story.
Lebanese-Palestinian writer Hasib Hourani says: “I don't think 'stateless' is an integral marker of my identity, but it's important to talk about because there are too few images of what statelessness can look like. The relationship between statelessness and constant motion is still very underrepresented, and I want to contribute to the breaking down of that one homogenous identity.”
Tamil academic Niro Kandasamy says: “I think because I’ve never felt attached to Sri Lanka or Australia, the concept of statelessness has less importance than the term home for me because I’ve never been able to connect to either state.”