SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: SOUTH ASIA According to the U.S. State Department’s 2022 Human Rights Report, media and civil society have reported the existence of stateless children in Bhutan who are born to unwed mothers and unable to prove the identity of the child’s father. citizenship — vulnerable to statelessness. The requirement under the citizenship law of Bhutan that both parents possess Bhutanese nationality has reportedly left some children born to unwed mothers who were unable to prove the identity of the father at the risk of statelessness.2133 Citizenship stripping and discriminatory nationality laws In the late 1980s, members of ethnic Nepali communities known as ‘Lhotshampas’ living in the south of the country were labelled as noncitizens through a census count, stripping them of their Bhutanese citizenship.2134 In the early 1990s, the Bhutanese government began expelling persons from their land and the country with as many as 100,000 refugees arriving in Nepal during the 1990s. While most of this population has been resettled in the decades since, in 2022 approximately 6,365 persons remained in refugee camps in Nepal.2135 The most recent estimates of the remaining population of Lhotshampas still living in Bhutan puts the population at 250,000.2136 In the early 1990s, the Bhutanese government began expelling persons from their land and the country with as many as 100,000 refugees arriving in Nepal during the 1990s. SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: SOUTH ASIA at institutions of higher education, travel documents, and business ownership”, stateless persons often have to show ‘no objection certificates’ and police security clearance certificates.2137 Stateless persons are often unable to obtain such certificates, limiting their access to these services.2138 Despite this, Bhutan’s National Commission for Women and Children has stated that stateless children do have access to public education and health services.2139 Bhutan has reported an 88% birth registration rate as of 2022.2140 Children are given a Unique Citizenship Identity at birth which is generated immediately after the birth is registered.2141 Births in Bhutan must be registered within the first 21 days of the date of birth.2142 Documents required for birth registration include a notification of birth or birth document and the parents’ Court Marriage Certificate and the child must be at or under one year of age.2143 Registering a child after they have surpassed one year of age entails a lengthy process of gaining endorsement by local officials and justifying the reason for late registration.2144 It appears that parents who are not married or do not have a Court Marriage Certificate are unable to register the birth of their child.2145 If the parents do not have the Certificate, they must get their marriage endorsed by local authorities to register their child’s birth.2146 This, along with the added procedures for late registration, may present a barrier to birth registration in Bhutan. As the process of birth registration is directly linked to citizenship acquisition in Bhutan2147, it could leave some children born to unwed parents or requiring late registration vulnerable to statelessness. Administrative barriers In Bhutan, in order to access services such as “public health care, employment, access to primary and secondary education, enrollment 192 As the process of birth registration is directly linked to citizenship acquisition in Bhutan , it could leave some children born to unwed parents or requiring late registration vulnerable to statelessness. STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC (DETAILED VERSION) India Laws Citizenship Law Jus sanguinis provisions Since 1987, access to Indian citizenship has operated through a jus sanguinis structure, with children born in India only considered citizens by birth if both parents are citizens of India or if one parent is a citizen of India and the other is not an undocumented migrant.2148 Children born outside of India to at least one Indian parent are considered citizens by descent so long as their birth is registered and they are not considered citizens of another country.2149 The law, however, fails to provide any jus soli safeguards to children who would otherwise be rendered stateless and devoids access to citizenship, by birth or descent, to any child if either parent is an “illegal immigrant” according to the law.2150 There is no definition of a stateless person included in the citizenship legislation of India. Since 1987, access to Indian citizenship has operated through a jus sanguinis structure, with children born in India only considered citizens by birth if both parents are citizens of India or if one parent is a citizen of India and the other is not an undocumented migrant. Further, there has been domestic and international attention regarding the impact of the Citizenship Amendment Act (2019) which provides a pathway to citizenship for undocumented migrants of certain religions from enumerated neighbouring countries. Notably, persons of Muslim faith are excluded from the operation of the Act.2151 Naturalized citizenship Section 6 of the Citizenship Act (1955) provides for citizenship by naturalisation. To qualify, an individual must renounce prior citizenship upon acceptance of naturalization to India, have resided in India for 14 years immediately preceding the twelve months before making the application, and must know an Indian language, among other requirements.2152 India also requires reciprocity, meaning that an Indian citizen should be eligible for citizenship by naturalisation in the other country in order for citizens of that country to naturalize in India.2153 The REPORT 2024 193