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| Sidratul Muntaha |
They
walk our streets, speak our language, and celebrate the same festivals. Yet,
for thousands of people in Bangladesh, a simple question — "Who are
you?" — has no legal answer. These are the stateless people — men, women,
and children who were born, bred, and denied the right to call this country
their own. They are invisible in the eyes of the law. Under Article 1(1) of the
1954 UN Convention on Statelessness, a stateless person is one who is not
considered a citizen by any State under the operation of its laws. Bangladesh,
unfortunately, is not a party to this Convention.
Perhaps
the most well-known stateless population in Bangladesh remains that of the
Urdu-speaking Biharis, often termed “stranded Pakistanis”. Before and after the
Partition of India in 1947, large numbers of Muslims fled the Hindu-majority
state of Bihar due to violent communal riots. Many of them migrated to what was
then Pakistan. The government of Pakistan, which was then a multiethnic nation,
resettled these people in East Bengal (now Bangladesh) as their guardian
authority.
During
the Liberation War of 1971, many Biharis were in favor of the Pakistani
military, although many others remained neutral or even supported the
independence of Bangladesh. In 1972, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh ruled that
the Biharis of Bangladesh were eligible for Bangladeshi citizenship. However,
thousands of Biharis opted to return to Pakistan. Some of these returns were
carried out through arrangements like the Red Cross repatriation program. But
in 1978, the Government of Pakistan refused to accept the remaining Biharis as
citizens. Post-war, Pakistan refused to take all of them, and Bangladesh, still
scarred from the trauma of war, was not ready to take them fully into its arms.
As a result, they remained disregarded, neither citizens of Pakistan nor
citizens of Bangladesh. This non-Bangli community is known as Bihari in our
country.
For
decades, they lived in crowded refugee camps known as "Geneva Camps,"
relying on aid and lacking basic rights. Currently living across 116 camps
located in 13 different districts across Bangladesh, housing approximately
4,00,000 Bihari individuals. These camps, located in places like Geneva Camp in
Mohammadpur (Dhaka), Bihari Palli in Saidpur, S. B. Nagar Bihari Camp in
Chittagong, and Khalishpur Bihari Camp in Khulna, are overcrowded, unhygienic,
and poorly maintained. Families are packed into crumbling structures with
limited access to clean water, insufficient sanitation, and an almost total
lack of privacy. Thus, the chances to study or work are rare, particularly for youngsters.
Even though born and brought up in Bangladesh, they are often regarded as
outsiders. Many cannot obtain national ID cards, passports, or property rights
because of bureaucratic hurdles and social stigma. These legal impediments keep
Biharis in a cycle of poverty and uncertainty.
A
turning point arose in 2008 when the Bangladesh High Court declared that
persons belonging to the Bihari community born after 1971war are Bangladeshis
under Article 6(2) of the Constitution of Bangladesh and granted them the right
to vote (Abid Khan v. Bangladesh Election Commission, 2008). However, this has
been implemented erratically and inconsistently. Large numbers of Biharis
remain unregistered formally, and legal recognition is delayed indefinitely
through bureaucratic inertia and outright discrimination. Many have assimilated
with the mainstream society of Bangladesh and have been associated with
business and have been enjoying the civil rights of this country.
Another
community facing statelessness in Bangladesh are Rohingya refugees. As a result
of violence and ethnic persecution in Myanmar, especially after Myanmar denied
them citizenship under Myanmar’s 1982 Citizenship Law, the Rohingya
population of almost a million has been cast into refugee camps at Cox’s Bazar.
Bangladesh has been giving them emergency shelter and humanitarian assistance;
however, it is not a recognized signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or
its 1967 Protocol. Hence, these refugees lack formal legal status and long-term
protection. Children born in camps grow up without birth registration, without
access to formal education, and without any promise of citizenship, what many
experts consider a lost generation.
This is not an exclusively South Asian problem. Throughout history,
statelessness has been shown to be very devastating. The Jewish refugees
fleeing Nazi Germany were faced with the very same problems before the Second
World War: without legal identities, they were almost impossible to save or
relocate elsewhere. Statelessness robs a person of basic rights. Without
citizenship, a person cannot legally work, study, own property, open a bank
account, or marry another. For women and children, the situation is especially
dangerous, as they become vulnerable to trafficking, child marriage, and abuse.
According
to the UNHCR, there are about 4.3 million stateless people in the Asia-Pacific
Region. Bangladesh stands among the worst-hit states. The great sticking point,
however, remains in our national laws. The Citizenship Act of 1951 is neither
clear nor inclusive when it comes to persons born within Bangladesh who cannot
produce an official certificate of birth. The law excludes those who are
domiciled here for generations but remain undocumented.
Some
crucial provisions lie in the Constitution of Bangladesh. Article 6 states that
citizenship shall be determined by law, while Article 27 guarantees equality
before the law and Article 28 prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race,
religion, caste, sex, or place of birth. But the reality is quite the opposite:
many stateless people cannot even have their birth registered as per the- জন্ম ও মৃত্যু নিবন্ধন আইন,
২০০৪. This initial disqualification in
legal identity leads to an entire lifetime of exclusion.
On
top of that, Bangladesh is a non-party to either the 1954 Convention Relating
to the Status of Stateless Persons or the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of
Statelessness. These are treaties drafted to set legal grounds and provide
support systems for stateless people and thereby reduce the instances and birth
of new statelessness. Not ratifying them limits Bangladesh’s ability to develop
structured responses and exposes gaps in legal protection. Nonetheless, as a UN
member, Bangladesh has obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (Article 15), which recognizes the right to a nationality, and the
Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 7), which guarantees every
child's right to be registered at birth and acquire a nationality.
Cases
are occasionally taken up by the judiciary for redress. The 2008 High Court
decision for the Biharis was a landmark victory. Whereas such judicial
interventions are commendable, they need to be backed by legislation at the
national level. There are no procedures for stateless determination, legal
recognition, or any coordinated approach by the government.
That
image has been from the past, but many NGOs remain active on the ground.
Organizations such as BRAC, Ain o Salish Kendra, and Refugee & Migratory
Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) are engaged in activities ranging from birth
registration campaigns and informal education to legal aid. Many young lawyers
and human-rights activists also come on board to press for the recognition of
stateless communities through various legal reforms. But without government
initiatives and legislation, such disparate efforts are bound to remain
disjointed.
Statelessness
is not a mere legal problem; it is a repudiation of identity and personality.
It strips away dignity, opportunities, and hope. Bangladesh, a country based on
justice and freedom, cannot afford to look away from those who are still
agonizing to be recognized. Stateless people remain invisible in law but are
very much existing in our society. We owe them a promise that they shall
belong.
Taking
the right steps would push the nation into a new chapter of life. First and
foremost, the government should ratify the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness
Conventions. Second, the government should work to amend the Citizenship Act of
1951 anew, this time incorporating socially inclusive provisions for people
born in the country or long-term residents. Thirdly, a formal mechanism for
identifying stateless Taking the right steps would push the nation into a new
chapter of life. Finally, to break the stateless cycle, children born in
Bangladesh, regardless of their parents' legal status, should be granted
citizenship.
True
freedom, “Shadhinota”, is more than independence from foreign rule; it is the
right for everyone born on this land to legally become part of its story. Until
then, the journey is incomplete in the pursuit of justice and equality.