Issue I – Access to Nationality and Other Rights for the Bihari Community 26. Most of the Biharis (also referred to as the Urdu Speaking Community) currently residing in Bangladesh were from Bihar in India, thus conferring to them the title of ‘Bihari’. During the Partition of India in 1947, the Biharis migrated to what was then known as East Pakistan (present Bangladesh) with the purpose of inhabiting or settling there. After Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, the Biharis were then considered to be stranded in Bangladesh after the war was over and were referred to as ‘stranded Pakistanis’ by the locals. Due to their controversial and alleged anti-Bangladesh role in the 1971 war, they were regarded as traitors and were not given the opportunity of citizenship in Bangladesh. This sequence of events triggered the Urdu-speaking community’s struggle of statelessness and overall discrimination faced by them to obtain basic rights in the years to come. 27. While some of the Biharis have been able to successfully integrate themselves into mainstream society, most of them are still living in camps or settlements formed by the ICRC across Bangladesh. Currently an estimated 300,000 Biharis 26 reside in 116 ‘inhuman’ camps and are identified under different names such as non-Bengalis, Biharis and Urdu-speaking. 27 The community has faced significant discrimination towards access to nationality and other fundamental human rights that, in practice, come with it. 28. In 2007, 11 petitioners filed a case in the High Court demanding equal citizenship and to be registered as voters in the Electoral Roll. The High Court Division ruled in their favour establishing an overall citizenship right for the Urdu-speaking community. Despite the judgement,28 the Urdu speaking community continues to struggle with exercising basic rights to non-discrimination and right to Bangladeshi nationality. The denial to enjoy their right to Bangladeshi nationality for the Urdu speaking community on an equal basis with other citizens, results in limited access to housing, land rights, education, healthcare, and employment opportunities.29 29. The discrimination has been fuelled by a number of factors, including language, religion, and political affiliation and they continue to be marginalized through the denial of passports, physical isolation in refugee-like camps and denial of services even though 26 Geoffrey Macdonald, ‘Bangladesh: Urdu-Speaking ‘Biharis’ Seek Recognition, Respect and Rights,’ International Republican Institute, (4 February 2021), available at: https://www.iri.org/resources/new-bangladesh-report-reveals-priorities-of-thebihari-minority/. 27 Khalid Hussain, ‘Situational Analysis of Mirpur-Urdu Speaking Camp eviction’, (March 2021) (unpublished). 28 Md. Sadaqat Khan (Fakku) and Others v. Chief Election Commissioner, Writ Petition No. 10129 of 2007, (18 May 2008). 29 US Departnment of State, 'Bangladesh 2021 Human Rights Report', (April 2022), available at: https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/bangladesh/; Council of Minorities and Namati, ‘Inhuman Camp Life of Bihari Urdu-speaking Linguistic Minority of Bangladesh’, (May 2018), available at: https://namati.org/resources/inhuman-camp-life-of-bihari-urdu-speaking-linguistic-minority-of-bangladesh/; Khalid Hussain, ‘The End of Bihari Statelessness’ (2009) 32 Forced Migration Review 30; Md Kamrul Hasan Arif, ‘The Status of the Bihari Community in Bangladesh under Domestic and International Law’ (2018) 25 International Journal on Minority and Group Rights 664; Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion and Council of Minorities, ‘Bangladesh: Together We Can’ (August 2021). Available at: https://files.institutesi.org/BANGLADESH_Together_We_Can.pdf; Katherine Southwick, ‘The Urdu-speakers of Bangladesh: An Unfinished Story of Enforcing Rights’ in Brad K Blitz and Maureen Lynch (eds) Statelessness and Citizenship: A Comparative Study on the Benefits of Nationality (2011). 6