ANNEX I Case Studies Case 1: Teenage Gymnastic team 1. In September 2021, the issues of childhood statelessness among ethnic Bengali children in Pakistan received international media attention when the two teenage gymnasts – Kiran Jaffer and Kulsoom Yamin, were hoping to represent Pakistan at national and international events. They were unable to obtain Child Registration Certificates (“CRCs”) / B-forms, despite the fact that they were all born in Pakistan. Regardless of hurdles, such as a lack of identity, the teams have won multiple accolades due to their individual hard work, as well as their commitment to working together and learning from and supporting each other. Nonetheless, these talented children are deprived of the opportunity to travel and represent Pakistan in international competitions and further are deprived of access to education and other fundamental rights. 2. As per the law and procedure, forms were filled out for each of the young athletes and were couriered to the Ministry of Interior. Follow up calls and letters were sent in the hope of receiving a response. Eventually, an official working at the Ministry of Interior got in touch. Instead of processing the application and following the rules of procedure laid out, the Ministry of Interior uploaded the young athletes’ matter to the Pakistan Citizen’s Portal instead. This is a government run complaint application to redress the grievances of citizens. Subsequent to this, there was no substantial response to the complaint or application despite following up through alternate avenues as well. 3. Due to the lack of response from the Ministry of Interior, NADRA was approached in the efforts of resolving the matter. According to NADRA’s policy 5.0.2, page 2, [remarks (‫])س‬, a person will be entitled to the issuance of a Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) if one parent holds a 13-digit CNIC that is not blocked. In March 2022, the athletes wrote a follow up letter to the NADRA headquarter in Islamabad that underscored NADRA’s existing policy and the relevant law. In response to this the NADRA head office in Karachi called and directed the young athletes and their parents to appear at their closest NADRA branch in order to have their B-forms and CNICs processed. They were instructed to simply bring the parent’s CNIC and the children’s birth certificate. At the NADRA branch the children's parents were subjected to extreme resistance and hostile behaviour by the NADRA officials present. They were made to go from one counter to another and were constantly told at each counter that their matter would have to undergo extensive verifications as Bengalis are not considered Pakistanis. The parents were also informed at the branch that they would require a witness in order for the application to be uploaded on to the NADRA server. This requirement is not mentioned anywhere in the NADRA Policy nor was this mentioned in the instructions given by the head office. 4. The case is still pending. Another letter was written to the NADRA headquarter Islamabad that detailed the events of the NADRA visit. In response, one of the young athlete’s parents was contacted and informed to make another visit to NADRA with a witness. As a result, her application for the issuance of a CNIC was successfully uploaded on to the NADRA server. The parents of the remaining young athletes, who were eligible for B-forms, were contacted separately and were also asked to bring a witness to upload their application forms. As a result of these efforts and multiple visits to the NADRA branch, all applications have been uploaded onto the NADRA servers and are under process. 18