Stateless young woman born and raised in North Cyprus set to be deported to nowhere amid legal deadlock

A 20-year-old woman identified only as F.H., who was born and raised in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) but holds no citizenship in any country, has been ordered to remain in custody for seven more days as her legal ordeal continues. 

The case has sparked significant public concern, with lawyers and human rights advocates calling for urgent intervention.

F.H., born on 7 June 2005 in Girne, has lived her entire life in North Cyprus. Although both her mother and biological father are Turkish citizens, her mother was not married to her biological father at the time of birth. As a result, F.H. was registered under her mother’s then-husband’s surname. 

Although a court ruling in 2024 granted her the right to carry her biological father’s surname, her father had only obtained TRNC citizenship in 2023 — too late for her to benefit under existing laws.

Left behind in North Cyprus at the age of three when her mother moved away, F.H. grew up without legal guardianship pathways that could resolve her status. According to her lawyer, Beste Dal, the young woman has remained legally stateless for years, despite multiple applications and appeals to authorities.

“A Legal and Humanitarian Dead End”

Lawyer Beste Dal stated that despite F.H. having previously held a residence permit, authorities failed to take necessary steps to address her statelessness. “On 17 November 2025, my client was arrested for residing without a permit. Every application we have made — for exemption documents, residence solutions, or citizenship procedures — has gone unanswered. She has been pushed into a dead end,” Dal said.

Dal emphasized that F.H. has been deprived of essential rights, including education and healthcare, due to her undefined legal status. “A young woman who was born on this land, educated here, and knows no other country is still detained. This harms public conscience. Authorities must finally listen to a young person fighting for a legal identity,” she added.

Dal also noted that even if F.H. were released, she cannot be deported because there is no country legally able to accept her, leaving her permanently trapped in an unresolved status.

Court Extends Custody Once Again

F.H. appeared before the Gazimağusa District Court today, where the judge ordered her to remain in custody for another seven days while officials attempt to determine next steps.

Bar Association President: “This Is the Most Striking Example of Law Failing Justice”

Kıbrıs Turkish Bar Association President Hasan Esendağlı issued a strong statement regarding the case, describing it as a clear example of how “what is legal is not always just.”

Esendağlı highlighted that the young woman has never seen any country other than the TRNC and has no nationality due to atypical family circumstances. “She grew up here, went to school here — yet at 18 she suddenly became ‘residence-less’ and was arrested. The court acted within the law, but the law itself is inadequate,” he said.

Although procedure dictates she must be deported, Esendağlı underlined the impossibility of such an action:
“There is no country to send her to. And yet the law says she cannot stay in the only country she has ever known. This is a legal and humanitarian paradox.”

The Bar Association president criticized state institutions for failing to act despite repeated appeals from the young woman’s lawyer: “Her lawyer has knocked on every door — the Interior Ministry, the Attorney General’s Office, the Turkish Embassy — only to encounter the cold and indifferent face of the state,” he said.

Esendağlı concluded with a stark moral appeal: “We have accommodated so many people in this country… yet we cannot accommodate a 20-year-old girl who was born here and has nowhere else to go. This issue can be resolved with a very simple administrative action. I urge authorities — resolve this humanitarian matter. What is happening is unacceptable to any conscience.”

The case continues to draw widespread attention, with growing calls for the government to urgently provide a legal resolution for F.H.’s stateless status.