Project Rice

"Citizens of nowhere": A very profound article online, that also references Filipino children and others who end up 'stateless' and all but forgotten.

the full story is here at Int'l Herald Tribune

reported by Seth Adams: April 1, 2007 - photograph © Greg Constantine for IHT

The powerful image above illustrates a man blinded after being beaten during forced labor.

"...Many of these stateless people are among the world's poorest; all are the most disenfranchised. Without citizenship, they often have no right to schooling, health care or property ownership.
...They also include tens of thousands of Filipino and Indonesian children in the Malaysian state of Sabah, victims of discriminatory laws that, in effect, deny them birth certificates and often separate them from their families."

I often wonder just who some of these people are in Metro Manila, who seem to be the worst off, scattered on the streets.

November 21, 2006: Manila Philippines - 5:47am

Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/20s f/3.5 at 54.0mm iso800

Thanks for reading today,
PJAMES