2.2 B: Statelessness in the news Duration: 45-60 minutes Instructions: Level of complexity: 3 1. Assign the participants (either in small groups or individually) one of the articles below to examine. Feel free to also add / use local articles about statelessness or others that might be particularly relevant for the group. You can find the articles in Appendix X. Here are the links to the originals: Knowledge/Subjects: Civics, Media Studies, Social Studies, Politics Article A. Living in a sea of trash: Sabah’s stateless children face bleak future: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/ sabah-stateless-children-sea-gypsies-bajau-laut-11561194 Article B. Stateless kids causing a headache for Sabah authorities: https://reliefweb.int/report/bangladesh/hundreds-thousands-rohingya-people-are-trapped-stateless-limbo Article C. Thousands find themselves stateless in the Dominican Republic: https://cronkite.asu.edu/buffett/dr/the_stateless.html Article D. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people trapped in stateless limbo: https://www.thestar.com.my/ news/nation/2020/02/09/ stateless-pelahu-kids-causing-a-headache-for-sabah-authorities Article E. I found a country, but lost my brother - Stateless activist: http://news.trust.org/item/20191006223443-qazhk/ Skills: Comparative Analysis, Critical thinking, Deductive reasoning, Empathy, Reading Comprehension, Research Values/Attitudes: Sense of identity, Value diversity Objectives: • For participants to critically reflect on how media portrays stateless people, the subconscious effects of media representation and the multifaceted ways of presenting information. Materials: Copies of the news articles (one for each group of 3-4) 2. Give the participants 15-20 minutes to go through their articles and to examine how statelessness, citizenship and rights are discussed in the article. Have the participants think about and write down answers to the following questions (if applicable to their article): a. What is the article about? Is statelessness the main topic? What other topics are being discussed? b. Who is talking about statelessness? (Is it the author, an expert quoted, stateless people etc.) c. What tone is the author/speaker using to talk about statelessness/citizenship/rights? Why do you think this is? d. Are stateless people portrayed as outsiders, victims or a problem group? e. Is there a message that is trying to be conveyed about statelessness? If so, what do you think that message is? f. Do you think this is an accurate representation of statelessness? If not, what do you think is misrepresented or not represented completely? g. How are newspaper articles different from photographs when telling a story? Were you able to form your own conclusions based on facts or did you feel the story was leading you to particular conclusions? Further the Activity: Statelessness can be portrayed through several media. A great way to discuss about the issue is through comics! Shapeless Shapes is a beautifully designed graphic novel about identity, belonging, history, freedom, discrimination, injustice, activism and statelessness. You can order a copy of the physical book through online book sellers or read it as an ebook here: https://files.institutesi.org/Shapeless_shapes.pdf 39