ISJCR hosts Workshop on Statelessness
Beirut, Lebanon (April 10, 2017 & April 26, 2017)- With the collaboration of ISJCR and citizenship club and with the participation of UNHCR and Frontiers Ruwad, International Affairs Masters Student at the Lebanese American University, Karoline Molaeb organized her two-day workshop under the title of “Overview of Statelessness in International Law: The Global and Lebanese Perspective.” The event came as part of Molaeb’ thesis dissertation research, she states “statelessness stands as a phenomenal peculiarity in the 21st century with drastic impacts on its population.” The first day was presented by UNHCR representative, Anna Sterzi who offered a global view of statelessness asserting that “at least, 10 million people in the world have no nationality.” The second day was presented by consultant of Frontiers Ruwad Association, Samira Trad who focused on statelessness in Lebanon claiming that “Lebanese laws guarantee the basic and fundamental rights of stateless persons.” In her turn, Molaeb asserted “I discovered in my research that statelessness in Lebanon is not confined to poor regions, but also stretches to the capital Beirut and many other civilized Lebanese cities.”
At the end of the two-day workshop, participants were issued certificates, and Sharen Aoun, student of Journalism affirmed “it was a very beneficial experience; I think that statelessness in Lebanon is a very serious issue that should be treated legally.” Not to mention that all participants were keen to help end statelessness as they all believe that everyone has the right to a nationality.
