By H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Caux in Djambala, Republic of the Congo<\/p>\n
Marie does not know her age but looks to be in her late thirties. She has never had a birth certificate nor any other identity document. She has never been to school, either. She lives in poverty with her six children and her husband Damas in Vono, a small village in the Republic of the Congo\u2019s Plateaux region, 40 kilometres away from Djambala, the main town.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love to go look for a job in Djambala, as a maid for instance, and be able to support my family more. But you need to have papers to get hired,\u201d she says in a defeated voice. Like Marie, most of the indigenous hunter-gatherers in the village do not have birth certificates \u2013 the first legal proof of one\u2019s existence.<\/p>\n
For Marie, every day is about survival. She and Damas walk for kilometres to look for cassava leaves in the forest, as well as asparagus, mushrooms and sugar cane. With the little they manage to sell, they sometimes buy some meat, oil and salt for the children. But other times, the family go hungry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in a very, very vulnerable situation. I\u2019m struggling every day to get food for the family. Every single day. But my children give me the energy to fight for them,\u201d she says in a shaky voice. Marie could not enrol her kids in school because they lacked the birth certificates required in the Congo and many other African countries to register. Instead, they trek to the forest with her to forage for food and firewood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey walk barefoot, including at the school they attended for three months, before being kicked out for lack of identity documents,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Once back at their home, Marie completes her daily round of chores that also include cooking and cleaning the house. \u201cIt is just too much. I am reaching my limit,\u201d she whispers. Poverty has also taken its toll on Damas, who is unable to help his wife as much as he would like\u00a0because of his poor health. \u201cWe don\u2019t have enough food, we don\u2019t have money to buy clothes. There\u2019s nothing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The indigenous group has long\u00a0lived on the margins of society. They face disparagement because of their smaller stature and traditional way of living, despite a national law adopted in February 2011 promoting and protecting the rights of indigenous people \u2013 including the right to citizenship and the right to civil status documents. Their in-depth knowledge of the medicinal plants and sacred trees in the savanna and forest is also often dismissed.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor some Bantu in the Congo \u2013 the main ethnic group \u2013 indigenous people have been and are still considered less than human. They have been used as servants and put to work in the fields, among other tasks,\u201d says Cyr Maixent Tiba, Advisor on Human Rights and the Promotion of Indigenous People at the Ministry of Justice in Brazzaville. He is also the Ministry\u2019s focal point on statelessness, and Bantu himself.<\/p>\n
Marginalization, combined with the remoteness of their communities,\u00a0which are far from government institutions and services, makes it harder for them to register\u00a0their children at birth, and engage\u00a0in the lengthy process to obtain IDs.<\/p>\n
Additionally, some indigenous women say they have been asked to pay fees at maternity wards to register their new-born babies \u2013 a service that is, by law, free of charge. Some village chiefs also ask\u00a0for money to add indigenous peoples\u2019 names to the list of those entitled to apply for birth certificates. Too poor to pay, many give up without registering their children.<\/p>\n
The Congo\u2019s indigenous communities are not alone in their plight. Around the world, millions of people are unable to prove their citizenship, and find themselves excluded from education, medical services and formal jobs, and are unable to move freely. Through its #IBelong Campaign to End Statelessness, <\/a>UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is seeking to ensure they have documentation by 2024.<\/p>\n In the Congo, a civil state census three years ago led to the identification of some 199,400 people \u2013 including at least 25,000 indigenous people \u2013 without birth certificates, out of a total population of almost 5.8 million. Acting on this data, the government launched an extensive countrywide operation in 2020, with the support of UNHCR, to issue birth certificates.<\/p>\n Mobile hearings have been held to register people and deliver the documents. As of September 2021, 30,000 birth certificates had been issued, including 5,000 to indigenous people. \u201cThe goal is to make sure that every Congolese has a birth certificate. And the indigenous people are Congolese,\u201d stresses Justin Assomoyi, Director for the Promotion of Indigenous People\u2019s Rights at the Ministry of Justice.<\/p>\n For the indigenous, receiving birth certificates and ID documents is a passport to a new life. \u201cYou need to have identity documentation to escape statelessness which today is considered a serious human rights violation,\u201d\u00a0says Geodefroid Quentin Banga, UNHCR statelessness expert in Brazzaville. \u201cBut apart from the documentation, the socio-economic aspect also has to be taken into account.\u201d<\/p>\n Twenty-four-year-old Mawaki Ngandibi could not be happier after\u00a0his family \u00a0benefited from the initiative. In September, he and his wife Nadine received a birth certificate for their 18-months-old son Doud\u00e9, at\u00a0an official ceremony in Djambala. \u201cI am happy about my child\u2019s birth certificate because when he grows up, I am going to send him to school,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Marie and Damas registered sometime\u00a0back for documents. They hope that their family will obtain their IDs soon so that they too, can overcome a lifetime of exclusion and provide a future for their children.<\/p>\n \u201cMy life is broken, wasted,\u201d Damas says. \u201cI wish I could get my children\u2019s birth certificates so that they can be admitted to school. All my hopes are on my children.\u201d<\/p>\n