Statelessness, Armando Augello Cupi: “I only know that I was born in Sanremo”

“I am 27 years old and I am stateless. The certainty I have is that I was born in Sanremo. The other information on my birth certificate I unfortunately discovered years later was false. When I was a few months old my biological parents, whose nationality I don’t even know, abandoned me and I was raised by an Italian couple ». Thus began the story of Armando Augello Cupipresident of Uniathe first organization in Italy of stateless persons for stateless persons, with the aim of improving the living conditions of thousands of people who live in Italy without the citizenship of any state.

“As a child I had a normal childhood, I managed to attend compulsory school, but when I got to the first high school I was expelled because I didn’t have any documents. Between the ages of 15 and 18, I experienced very dark moments in which I often tried to understand what was happening. While my peers could continue their studies, travel and work, I was stuck in uncertainty ». In Italy it is estimated that they are about three thousand stateless people, or without citizenship of any state. The exact number of stateless people is difficult to define precisely because of the invisibility they live with respect to institutions.

“When I was 18 I tried to go to the Municipality, ask for an identity card, but I was nowhere and they couldn’t give it to me. I had no idea what statelessness was. I found out when at 19 I decided to hire a lawyer to help me get out of this situation ». Thus, thanks to the statelessness recognition procedure, Armando Augello Cupi was able to obtain a residence permit then an identity card, a tax code, and a driving license. And he began to rethink his life, starting with the studies he had lost due to lack of documents.

«I chose the La Sapienza University of Rome but in the computer system at the time of enrollment by entering” stateless “instead of citizenship, I was unable to continue. I was afraid of having to give up once again, but I was lucky, I met a very special person in the student secretariat, who was able to help and guide me through and through ». By studying, Armando transformed his statelessness into his strength. «In 2022 I decided to found Unia because I wanted to create an association made by stateless persons for stateless persons. We would like to be able to represent to the institutions what it really means to “live in uncertainty”, without the citizenship of any state, and to help people who are experiencing what I went through ».

Other stories of Vanity Fair that may interest you:

-In Cerignola, against the mafia with tomato sauce

-Le Storie Siamo Noi, Ihsane: “In Italy for 22 years and without citizenship”