Carrying Forward: Stateless Activists Connect Across Generations and Borders
In July 2025, the Global Movement Against Statelessness (GMAS) convened a powerful community conversation titled "Carrying Forward: A Cross Border Conversation”. Bringing together stateless activists, advocates and community members from different generations and regions, the event created a space for reflection, learning and solidarity rooted in lived experience.
Unlike a traditional panel discussion or training session, the event was designed as a dialogue space where participants could listen to one another, share personal reflections, and learn from the diverse journeys that have shaped activism across different contexts. Participants ranged from young people newly engaging in advocacy to long-standing activists who have spent decades resisting discrimination and exclusion in their communities.
A special highlight of the event was a presentation by photographer and storyteller Greg Constantine, who shared insights from his EkKhaale project. Through visual storytelling and restoration of historical memory, the project explores Rohingya identity, history, and belonging, demonstrating how memory itself can be a form of resistance against erasure.
The conversation also featured reflections from activists representing different generations. Through personal stories, participants explored questions about what sustains their work, how challenges related to statelessness have evolved over time, and how activists care for themselves and one another in the face of ongoing injustice. These testimonies highlighted both the continuity of struggles for nationalityrights and the emergence of new forms of advocacy, creativity, and organizing.
Interactive moments throughout the session encouraged participants to share their own experiences and insights. Through collective reflection exercises and a cross-generational fishbowl dialogue, community members discussed the lessons they wished to pass on, the practices they hoped to preserve, and the approaches they felt ready to leave behind. The discussion reinforced the importance of mutual support, intergenerational learning, and collective leadership within the movement.
The event concluded with participants sharing commitments for what they would "carry forward" in their personal lives, organisations, and advocacy efforts. These reflections underscored a common belief that lasting change requires not only strategic action, but also care, solidarity, and strong relationships across borders.
As GMAS continues to grow as a global movement led by people directly affected by statelessness, conversations like these remain essential. They help preserve collective memory, strengthen connections between generations, and ensure that the movement's future is informed by the wisdom, resilience, and experiences of those who have come before while creating space for new voices to lead.
Through this gathering, participants left with renewed inspiration, stronger connections, and a shared commitment to carrying forward the struggle for equal nationality rights and the dignity of all stateless people.
