Zainul Adam - whose name has been changed to protect his identity - dreamed of being a citizen when he was a child.
A member of the Rohingya community, an ethnic minority in Myanmar, he grew up in the Rakhine state in the west of the country.
Since the early 1980s, Rohingya have been unable to attain citizenship in their native country, making them the world's largest stateless population.
Their freedom of movement, religion and access to basic services including education have been severely curtailed.
"My father used to say, when someone has citizenship, it opens thousands of doors. You are treated as an equal, with the opportunity to go to school, access healthcare and apply for jobs."
Thirteen years after his father was forced to flee, Mr Adam also fled to Bangladesh in 2006.
Read more: UNHCR calls for Ireland to recognise stateless people
Despite many challenges, his family encouraged his education and he secured a place to study medicine in Malaysia.
Mid-way through the course he was offered the opportunity to study for three years in Ireland in University of Galway which had a twinning programme with his own university.
However he faced issues with his legal status not long after he arrived.
Eager to continue his studies, he sought to be recognised as a stateless person, which is a specific legal status for "a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law".
Although Ireland is a signatory to the 1954 Convention, the UNHCR has pointed out that it does not have a dedicated determination procedure through which people can be recognised as stateless, meaning there was no way for someone like Mr Adam to be recognised as such.
Stuck in a legal limbo, he applied for asylum in Ireland, but was denied international protection. He was told he could safely return to Myanmar.
"It was one decision that could have changed my life. If I had been recognised as a stateless person I could have become a citizen five or six years ago and finished my medical studies and contributed so much to society.
"However, I ended up losing my medical career and so many productive years. These are the things one decision can change."
In 2017, the Irish Government recognised his exceptional circumstances and granted Mr Adam permission to stay in the country.
He has now renewed his studies, this time in theology and continues to campaign for the establishment of a dedicated statelessness determination procedure so that he and other stateless people in Ireland can have the same rights as people with citizenship.
"I hope that Ireland finally introduces a statelessness determination procedure so that other people won’t face the same challenges I did.
"For me, I would like to get a travel document. I haven’t seen my mum in 16 years, and it’s important for me that I can see her again. Half my life has been away from her."
