Memoun Sheikh

Have you ever experienced being deficient in citizenhood, marginalized, and deprived of your most basic human rights? Have you ever felt what it’s like to be a Libyan without an identity?

My name is Memoun Sheikh from Sebha, an advocate of refugee and stateless individual rights.

When I was in fourth grade, I was always asked to provide a copy of specific pages of our family booklet. My father would procrastinate and say he would submit it to the school directly. My curiosity about this persisted until middle school when I realized I was not like the other students. My father never had a family booklet because we were stateless! Some called us “holders of administrative numbers,” rather than national ID numbers.

I had to fight hard for my basic rights. I withstood rejection and discrimination. Despite my academic success and being selected for several courses abroad, I never had the luxury to accept nor reject such opportunities because I simply didn’t own a passport.

In 2014, I participated in a training workshop in the south. The workshop focused on humanitarian issues and freedom of journalism. Upon completing the workshop, I decided to highlight the ordeal of the oppressed and stateless, especially with the government’s neglect and the media’s silence.

Belonging to this group, I deeply understood their challenges, like obstacles in registering newborns, getting death certificates, divorces, and receiving medical care abroad. For me, certifying my marriage and registering my daughter in the civil registry are just dreams.

I find peace in my suffering by helping refugees and immigrants defend their rights. Sometimes I feel they are better off than me; at least they chose to leave their country for a better life. I never had a home to leave. I was born on an arduous path to find my Libyan identity. Nevertheless, I will continue to fight until I achieve my dream and the dream of thousands of stateless people like me, a dream of living in dignity, freedom and to belong.