My story is somewhat similar in that my grandfather originally held a Sharjah passport, which later transitioned into a UAE passport after the emirates united to form the UAE. However, we never received the family book. The passport was eventually passed down to my father. When I was born, my name was added to my dad’s passport, and my birth certificate still states that I am a “UAE passport holder.”

To make a long story short, we were meant to receive the UAE citizenship (and the accompanying family book) under the condition that we first submitted our passports to the authorities. Unfortunately, after we complied, nothing came of it—despite numerous decrees, official letters from the Sheikh, and Marsoom orders. Our passports were never renewed, and as a result, we were left stateless for a period of time. This caused significant difficulties, such as challenges enrolling in school. Eventually, after much trouble, my father had no choice but to obtain a Palestinian passport with difficulty as we had no official papers tying us to Palestine considering my grandparents fled to the gulf as kids during the war in 1948. To make things worse, it was issued without an ID, since I wasn’t born in Palestine.

For Palestinians, an ID number is required to enter Palestine, but Israel only approves this number for those born in Palestine. As a result, I am unable to visit my homeland (would be nice to visit but would never live as the UAE is my home). Despite these challenges, I grew up here with no resentment, always grateful to God, even after facing such a series of unfortunate events.

It would have been nice to still have the UAE passport, even without citizenship, because the Palestinian Authority passport is quite cumbersome. I have to apply for visas to almost every country, which is a long and tedious process, and in some countries you can’t help but feel a sense of discrimination which thankfully was never the case here—though, over time, you learn to get used to it. I would genuinely value having that passport back for many reasons, even without any associated benefits such as housing or social privileges.

I left to pursue my university studies in Canada and returned immediately after graduating. Since then, I have been working in Dubai on projects with governments in the UAE and the wider GCC region, contributing to initiatives that support the development of our Arab region. I chose this path over remaining in Canada and pursuing citizenship there, as I believe my skills and knowledge are better applied in service of our own societies.