SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: SOUTH ASIA on Bhashan Char, the island has evolved into a permanent alternative settlement for the Rohingya population in Bangladesh, despite major concerns expressed by both the Rohingyas and international community.2092 As of February 2022, an estimated 19,000 people had been relocated.2093 In 2023, the population of Bhashan Char was estimated at 30,000 and counting.2094 Other populations of note A population of note in Bangladesh is the Urduspeaking (Bihari) community who have resided in Bangladesh since independence.2095 Historically the Urdu-speaking community were stateless with their status as Bangladeshi citizens denied due to perceived connections to Pakistan. Since the early 2000’s their citizenship status has been recognised and community members have progressively been granted citizenship. However, the Urdu-speaking community, with a population size estimated to be 300,000, continues to face discrimination and marginalisation including through the denial of passports, physical isolation in refugee-like camps and denial of services.2096 In this sense, while the formal citizenship status of this population has been resolved, Urdu-speaking populations continue to be impacted by the legacies of statelessness.2097 Causes of Statelessness Discriminatory nationality laws As outlined in the Myanmar chapter, the statelessness of the Rohingya community is largely caused by ethnic discrimination embedded in the citizenship laws of Myanmar.2098 Urduspeaking ‘Bihari’ communities were excluded from accession to Bangladeshi citizenship until court intervention in 2008 due to discriminatory interpretations of the citizenship law. 188 SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: SOUTH ASIA Conceptions of the Urdu-Speaking community as owing allegiance to or ‘belonging’ to Pakistan led to their denial of rights under amendments to the Bangladeshi citizenship laws that were introduced in 1978.2099 While 2009 amendments to The Citizenship Act removed the gender discriminatory provisions which denied women the equal right to pass citizenship to their children, the Act2100 still contains provisions which deny women the equal right to confer citizenship to a foreign spouse.2101 The Act contains a provision allowing foreign women married to a Bangladeshi man to apply for naturalized citizenship through a simplified process2102, yet there is no such provision allowing the same for foreign men married to Bangladeshi women. In particular, due to the government banning marriages between Rohingyas and citizens, their marriages as a result are unregistered, potentially leaving their children open to statelessness.2103 stateless status was gained before their arrival in Bangladesh, it is this ‘paradigmatic policy shift’2107 that has compounded intergenerational statelessness among their children born in the country. In 2020, it was estimated that more than 75,000 Rohingya children had been born in the Cox’s Bazaar Refugee camp since 2017.2108 In April 2022, it was reported that an official count found that on average 95 children were born per day to Rohingya parents in refugee camps,2109 accounting for this, an additional 70,000 stateless children may have been born in Bangladesh in the past two years. Bangladesh’s birth registration rate was reported as 56% as of 20192110, increasing to just 58% in 2022.2111 Innovations to the CRVS model in 2021 contributed to increasing the birth registration rate to 83% in the first quarter of 2023.2112 The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has noted that women and children in the Rohingya community experience lower rates of birth registration, placing them at risk of statelessness.2113 Local private entrepreneurs involved in the data entry process have been reported to charge informal fees for facilitating the data entry of an application for registration.2114 In April 2022, it was reported that an official count found that on average 95 children were born per day to Rohingya parents in refugee camps, accounting for this, an additional 70,000 stateless children may have been born in Bangladesh in the past two years. Lack of legal safeguards against childhood statelessness On the face of the law, the jus soli provision of Bangladeshi citizenship law would provide foundling children and children born to stateless parents access to citizenship.2104 However, due to lack of implementation of Bangladesh’s jus soli provisions, citizenship is predominantly only gained via descent as children born in Bangladesh are typically only granted citizenship if they have at least one Bangladeshi citizen parent.2105 Administrative barriers Administrative and policy practices have led to the citizenship laws of Bangladesh shifting in application from jus soli to jus sanguinis in their application.2106 While the majority of stateless persons in Bangladesh are Rohingyas whose STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC (DETAILED VERSION) REPORT 2024 189