SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: SOUTH ASIA [which ensures gender equality in nationality law2255] to guarantee that Nepali women may confer their nationality to their children, as well as to their foreign spouses, under the same conditions as Nepali men, whether they are in the country or abroad”.2256 In Nepal’s 2021 follow-up to the concluding observations, the country stated that “the [Constitution] ensures equality between men and women with respect to acquiring, retaining, and transferring of citizenship” and that “this also equally applies to their children”.2257 Nepal also expressed that the “[Citizenship Amendment Bill] has also been submitted in the Federal Parliament”.2258 In response to this, the Rapporteur stated that Nepal has yet to repeal the discriminatory provisions of the Constitution and found that the recommendation has not been implemented.2259 While Nepal has enacted the Nepal Citizenship (First Amendment) Bill (2079) to amend gender discrimination since these concluding observations, as discussed above, remaining gender discriminatory provisions still deny Nepali women equal rights to confer citizenship.2260 While Nepal has enacted the Nepal Citizenship (First Amendment) Bill (2079) to amend gender discrimination since these concluding observations, as discussed above, remaining gender discriminatory provisions still deny Nepali women equal rights to confer citizenship. In its 2018 concluding observations, the CERD Committee expressed concern over government officials who have reportedly discouraged Dalits from applying for citizenship.2261 Further, it highlighted that Madhesis of the Terai region who acquired citizenship by birth prior to the promulgation of the Constitution in 2015 have not been able to confer citizenship by descent to their children, which violates article 11(3) of the Constitution.2262 Article 11(3) of the Constitution states that “a child of a citizen having obtained the citizenship of Nepal by birth prior to the commencement of Nepal shall, upon attaining 204 SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: SOUTH ASIA majority, acquire the citizenship of Nepal by descent if the child's father and mother both are citizens of Nepal”.2263 The Committee recommended that Nepal establish clear procedures for issuing citizenship certificates without discrimination, that applications are decided upon in a timely manner with written notification to the applicant of the reason for denial of citizenship, and that there be a complaint mechanism for those who receive a negative decision.2264 With the enactment of the Citizenship Regulations in 2023, some of these concerns have been addressed.2265 In Nepal’s 2020 UPR submission, the country reiterated that its Constitution “ensures equality between men and women with respect to acquiring, retaining and transferring of citizenship” and that its Citizenship Act “fully recognizes and protects equal status of Nepali women while granting citizenship”.2266 In the same session, four states (Canada, Finland, Germany and Panama) urged Nepal to amend its gender discriminatory provisions with regard to citizenship.2267 In a joint submission for the same session, stakeholders recommended that Nepal:  “Take all necessary measures in line with obligations under the CRC and ICCPR to grant Nepali citizenship without delay to all children residing in the State party who would otherwise be stateless, particularly children born to Nepali mothers, and implement adequate safeguards to protect all children from statelessness”;  “Review and improve the current application process for citizenship certificates and simplify the process with a view to expediting it and making it more accessible to all applicants”;  “Review and enhance the transparency of the system for reviewing and granting applications for citizenship and reduce the discretionary threshold for such decisions, so that citizenship certificates are granted upon meeting the relevant criteria” STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC (DETAILED VERSION)     “Create a process to provide training to District Administration Offices on the provision of citizenship certificates, and establish a complaint or review mechanism in case of denial of citizenship application or discriminatory practices by civil servants”; “Conduct a comprehensive study on the state of statelessness of minority and lowercaste groups, and ensure that caste-based discrimination does not result in denial of citizenship”; “Find durable solutions for the enduring statelessness of intergenerational refugee populations in Nepal”; and “Accede to and fully implement the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness”.2268 not all necessarily stateless, UNHCR has been working closely with the Government of Nepal and partners to address the situation”.2272 In 2021, it was estimated that approximately 6.3 million people in Nepal lacked citizenship documentation, which consists of 25% of the population over the age of 16.2273 While there is a lack of accurate estimates on the number of persons affected by statelessness in the country, it is likely in the hundreds of thousands.2274 In 2011, UNHCR estimated the population to be as high as 800,000 affected persons, a figure which was rejected by the Government of Nepal.2275 The large number of people affected by statelessness in Nepal can be attributed to patriarchal structures combined with discriminatory attitudes of officials in providing documentation, “a discriminatory, caste-based system, and the failure to provide a durable solution to long-term refugees and protect their children’s right to nationality”.2276 Population Reported stateless persons Persons at risk of statelessness Nepal reported 452 stateless persons to UNHCR in 2022, a decrease of 13 people from the reported numbers in 2021.2269 This population is entirely composed of stateless Rohingya refugees, with UNHCR noting that they have information regarding the in situ stateless population but lack any reliable data.2270 In 2020, Nepal reported zero stateless persons, however, it was noted that there were 371 reported stateless Rohingya refugees in that year.2271 UNHCR has noted that a “large number of individuals lack citizenship certificates in Nepal” and that “while these individuals are Ethnic minority groups including Dalit and Madheshi communities in Nepal face issues of accessing citizenship and identity documents and are at risk of statelessness.2277 For the Dalit community, discrimination, lack of awareness, and poverty have acted as barriers to accessing citizenship.2278 In 2011, UNHCR estimated the population to be as high as 800,000 affected persons, a figure which was rejected by the Government of Nepal. TABLE 58 Reported stateless persons to the UNHCR Country Nepal 2019 (year start)2279 2020 (year end)2280 2021 (year end)2281 2022 (year end)2282 – – 465 452 Source: UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement from 2019-2022. REPORT 2024 205