2020 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 2(2) Figure 2: Neha, a stateless girl trapped inside a bubble. 86 In the first stage of obtaining a passport, I had to fill a document entitled ‘Prove That You Were Born, Even if You are Alive and a Breathing Human Being’. The sarcastic tone of the title seemed like a challenge to the discretion the nation-state has in deciding if you were born. It challenges the notion that a birth certificate is needed when, in reality, you exist as a human. I found this piece quite interesting. At the end of the ‘birth certificate’ in Figure 3 it was written: Please present this fully accomplished form as evidence that you are not stateless. Nothing is more important than a piece of paper as compared to your live presence and actual existence, right? These lines remain a critical reflection of the importance of state-sanctioned documents. It took me the entire three day conference to go through all stages needed to get a ‘passport’. Sometimes, the officer played by the person in the passport office was not there. Sometimes, the officer would not want to do the work. Sometimes the photo I submitted was deemed inappropriate and I was asked to resubmit it. Throughout the procedure I felt a sense of rejection and betrayal, regardless of my 86 Mizanur Rahman, Neha, A Stateless Girl Trapped inside a Bubble (Photo, World Conference on Statelessness and Inclusion, 26–28 June 2019). 288