Maha Mamo (born February 29, 1988)[2][3] is a Brazilian human rights activist. She is an advocate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' #IBelong campaign, which seeks to end gender discrimination in nationality laws through local and international advocacy.[4]
Maha Mamo | |
|---|---|
Maha Mamo in a #IBelong campaign video | |
| Born | February 29, 1988 |
| Citizenship | Brazil |
| Occupation | Human rights activist |
| Awards | Order of Rio Branco[1] |
| Website | mahamamo |
Early life edit
Mamo was born in 1988 to Syrian nationals. Her father was Christian and her mother was Muslim,[5] barring them from legal marriage and thus preventing Mamo and her two brothers, Souad and Eddie, from obtaining Syrian citizenship.[6] In absence of identification documents during the Lebanese Civil War, Mamo and her brothers avoided potential security checkpoints, thus restricting them from education and healthcare services.[7]
Activism edit
In 2014, the Brazilian embassy invited Mamo and her siblings under a special visa for Syrians.[7] Members of the United Nations helped her obtain a travel document, and Mamo began advocating for the creation of legal avenues to citizenship. The New York Times described Mamo as "the face" of this campaign.[7] In 2018, after Brazil legalized stateless people to apply for citizenship, she became a registered citizen of Brazil.[8]
References edit
- ^ "Página 4 do DOU - Seção 1 - Edição Extra A, número 225, de 01/12/2022 - Imprensa Nacional". Diário Oficial De União. 2022-12-01. ISSN 1677-7042. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
- ^ MahaMamo on Twitter
- ^ ""Imagine Living and Dying With No Documents?" Children of Civil Marriage in Syria". SIRAJ. 2020-12-25. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
- ^ "Maha Mamo, a stateless refugee in Brazil, talks about the challenges of life without a nationality". United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 2016-12-13. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
- ^ "Born stateless: Looking for a country to love me". BBC Online. 2017-10-01. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
- ^ "A gratidão ao Brasil da refugiada sem pátria que acabou perdendo irmão em assalto". BBC News (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2017-10-06. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
- ^ a b c Londoño, Ernesto (2020-12-25). "Stateless, She Became the Face of a Largely Invisible Plight". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
- ^ Batha, Emma (2019-10-06). "I found a country, but lost my brother - stateless activist". Thomson Reuters Foundation. Retrieved 2024-02-18.