Football has always been part of Sirazul’s life. For him, football transcends borders and connects heritages. This photo shows Sirazul proudly wearing England’s national team jersey. 

Sirazul was born in Bangladesh, in a refugee camp for Rohingya people displaced by genocide in neighbouring Myanmar. Things like running water or a quiet place to study were luxuries he didn’t have growing up.

It wasn’t until he left for the UK with his family that he understood what he had been missing. "Small things we take for granted in our everyday lives in the West were big phenomena to me," he reflects. "All I knew before was the lack of them."
Sirazul is clear about his Rohingya identity and roots. Yet he has spent most of his life without a nationality and the documents to prove his origins. Sirazul only obtained British citizenship when he was 18 years old. Growing up as a stateless refugee imposed many restrictions on his life.

‘’When you are stateless or hold a refugee travel document, everything feels quite temporary. In a sense, it feels like the state is saying: ‘This doesn’t give you permission or the right to live here forever or to call this place home.”

Sirazul’s journey has shaped his purpose: standing up for others facing the same struggles that he once did. His ambition to help people in his community rebuild their lives and move forward has led him to pursue a law degree. 

Statelessness affects over half a million people in Europe, leaving them without a nationality or access to basic rights. It arises from various factors, including discrimination, displacement, gaps in nationality laws, and deliberate state policies. Without citizenship, many individuals face barriers to education, healthcare, and employment, often leading to marginalisation and human rights violations.

Sirazul works with the European Network on Statelessness (ENS), a civil society alliance dedicated to breaking the cycle of statelessness and ensuring that stateless people can access their rights and obtain legal recognition. The network unites over 180 members across 41 countries and plays a vital role in strengthening legal protections, mobilising communities, and working with decision-makers to create lasting solutions to statelessness. Through law and policy development, awareness-raising, and capacity-building, ENS seeks to end the marginalisation of stateless people.

Although he now lives in Bradford, UK, Sirazul’s Rohingya identity remains at the core of who he is. Language, food and community are the strongest ties to his roots, and he often shares meals and celebrates traditions with other local Rohingya families. 

Sirazul keeps his culture alive through his community work. He meets regularly with local people, leads language classes and workshops, writes poetry and theatre plays.  “Hearing Rohingya in the background makes me feel at home,” he says. This photo shows Sirazul transcribing a poem in the Rohingya language.

Being stateless means not being recognised as a national of any country. “How do you prove a negative – something that doesn’t exist?” asks Sirazul. “You don’t have any documents to prove that you are stateless. It becomes a paradox. People don’t realise how hard it is to prove all these things we take for granted.”

Many European countries don’t even have an effective way to identify who is stateless and recognise their statelessness. This legal limbo leaves many people stuck in an exhausting bureaucratic cycle. For Sirazul and his team at ENS, one part of the solution is to encourage states to establish procedures to identify and determine who is stateless so they can access other rights and services. This involves advocacy, monitoring, and sharing best practice, as well as initiatives to develop tools and build the capacity of government officials and other first points of contact for refugees and migrants, enabling them to ensure new arrivals get the right information and support. 

Sirazul’s passion for his work shines through. At ENS, he keeps raising awareness and sharing knowledge about statelessness with policy makers and civil society actors. He knows his work matters – both personally, because it reflects his own identity, and to others in similar situations, whose lives he can help to improve.

Sirazul poses with the jersey he played football in at university, where his nickname was Siri.

Porticus continues to support people who are stateless by raising awareness of their situation, supporting research, and connecting professionals working on migration and statelessness, including ENS, the organisation Sirazul works with.  

Did you know?

• Because stateless people are denied their right to a nationality, they are often not allowed to go to school, see a doctor, get a job or even get married.
• There are at least 4.4 million stateless people worldwide. However, as most countries don’t report statelessness data, the actual figure is believed to be substantially higher. (UNCHR, June 2024)    

Find out more

Learn more about how Porticus supports people on the move here.

All pictures were taken by Suleika Mueller, represented by Artworld Agency.