Living Legal Nonexistance

Maung* is a stateless boy living a “legal nonexistence” in Thailand. His hope is to go to school, the only possible pathway to citizenship. Rungnapa, a formerly stateless teacher at an ADRA-sponsored community learning center, knows the experience firsthand. “I have been a stateless person, and I have felt abandoned. I could not do anything. There was no good income, no public services like health care, I could not travel anywhere. I understand how other stateless people feel. When I got Thai citizenship, I determined to help those people in situations just like me.”