- Title: Cate Blanchett backs drive to end plight of 10 mln stateless
- Date: 7th October 2019
- Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (OCTOBER 7, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** AUSTRALIAN ACTRESS AND GOODWILL AMBASSADOR U.N. OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES, CATE BLANCHETT (WEARING GLASSES) AND FORMERLY STATELESS REFUGEE, NOW ACTIVIST, MAHA MAMO ARRIVING ON STAGE WITH THEIR PASSPORTS BLANCHETT (R) AND MAMO (L) POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHER WITH THEIR PASSPORTS BLANCHETT AND MAMO SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTRALIAN ACTRESS AND GOODWILL AMBASSADOR U.N. OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES, CATE BLANCHETT, SAYING: "Statelessness often has quite simple straightforward solutions. I mean, there are many causes of course for statelessness, but it is a man-made problem and it is solvable, like in Maha's case, it is simply a legislative change to remove the gender discrimination laws in that country and I applaud Sierra Leone and Madagascar for recently committing to change their gender discriminatory laws in the nationality laws. But states do define citizenship and so states therefore, do have the power to make, to remove those roadblocks to citizenship for stateless people." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTRALIAN ACTRESS AND GOODWILL AMBASSADOR U.N. OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES, CATE BLANCHETT, SAYING: "Well I, I come from a country of immigrants and refugees that was by, you know, a colonial invasion not withstanding was very positively built on the welcoming embrace of those who were seeking asylum and those who were cast out from other countries. So, it has been profoundly distressing and bewildering to me, as an Australian citizen, to witness what has been going on on-shore and off-shore in our relationship to asylum seekers and refugees." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTRALIAN ACTRESS AND GOODWILL AMBASSADOR U.N. OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES, CATE BLANCHETT, SAYING: "And of course, the average time that a refugee is displaced is between 17 and 20 years, so the longer this situation goes on, the greater the chance that the refugee… children will be born to refugees who will be at severe risk of statelessness, so it is a very deep concern of mine. And it was part of my shame I think about what was going on in my own country that drove me to work with an organisation like UNHCR." NEWS CONFERENCE ENDING BLANCHETT AND MAMO TALKING BLANCHETT LEAVING THE ROOM UNITED NATIONS SIGN UNITED NATIONS BUILDING
- Embargoed: 21st October 2019 15:49
- Keywords: Cate Blanchett Geneva stateless xenophobia goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR)
- Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- City: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Celebrities,Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA001B03MWCN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Cate Blanchett was in Geneva on Monday (October 7) to support a global campaign to end the plight of an estimated 10 million people with no nationality amid warnings rising xenophobia is stymieing efforts to meet a 2024 deadline for eradicating statelessness.
The double Oscar-winner spoke at a major meeting in Geneva aimed at persuading governments to dramatically escalate progress in the campaign called #Ibelong.
Blanchett's urged States to use their "power" and "to remove those roadblocks to citizenship for stateless people."
Not recognised as nationals of any country, stateless people are often deprived of basic rights like education and healthcare, and risk exploitation and detention.
As a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR), Blanchett recently visited Bangladesh to meet stateless Rohingya who have fled Myanmar and has met displaced Syrian families in the Middle East.
The Australian film star criticized her government's management of the refugees and asylum seekers and said it was part of her "shame" that drove her to work with the U.N. refugees agency.
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