2021 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 3(1) remain in refugee camps, unable to obtain citizenship. 70 P Ulaganathan v The Government of India (‘P Ulaganathan’) before the Madras High Court demonstrates the problems arising from their statelessness. The Court noted how the Tamils did not have any ties with Sri Lanka, how they had made applications for citizenship several times, that they had been living in camps in hellish conditions and considered how they had suffered in statelessness. It recognised the link between citizenship and enjoyment of human rights and noted that art 21 of the Constitution was violated since the Tamils had lived in statelessness for 35 years in these camps. One of the impediments for the citizenship applications to be considered was s 5 of the Citizenship Act, 1955 (‘1955 Act’) which defines an illegal migrant as a foreigner who entered India without valid travel documents. The Court noted that the Government, as the sovereign authority, has an implied power to grant relaxation under the 1955 Act. 71 The above cases show how the lack of citizenship and the situation of statelessness of the Chakmas and the Estate Tamils led to inhumane treatment and threats to their life and liberty. Even the courts have recognised how these populations have been subjected to human rights violations due to their situation of statelessness. In general, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (‘UNHCR’) description of a stateless person’s life illustrates how a stateless person’s rights and dignity, without membership in a polity through citizenship, is affected: without nationality, a stateless person cannot go to school or university; get a job; get medical care; own property, travel; register the birth of [their] children; marry and found a family; enjoy legal protection; have a sense of identity and belonging; participate fully in developments in a world composed of states, in which nationality is a key to membership. 72 Not only this but without nationality, severe human rights violations have been inflicted on stateless persons including prolonged detention, trafficking and discrimination. 73 UNHCR also records some of the problems faced by stateless persons across the world including perpetuation of statelessness across generations, insecurity, shaming and threats, property issues, issues in relation to custody of the children of stateless persons, the risk of arrest and detention, lack of education and employment opportunities, lack of access to health services, being unable to engage in political participation, and expulsion. 74 All of these illustrate that in a situation of statelessness, without the right to have rights, persons are unable to enjoy human rights in dignity. 70 71 72 73 74 ‘Forgotten People: Upcountry Tamils from Sri Lanka Living in Refugee Camps in India’, Reliefweb (online, 15 September 2004) available at <https://reliefweb.int/report/srilanka/forgotten-people-upcountry-tamils-sri-lanka-living-refugee-campsindia#:~:text=This%20bill%20grants%20citizenship%20to%20approximately%20168%2C1 41%20stateless%20estate%20Tamils.&text=The%20Upcountry%20Tamils%20in%20the,w ho%20were%20born%20in%20India.>. P Ulaganathan v The Government of India (2019) WP(MD) No 5253 of 2009 (Madras High Court) (Swaminathan J) (‘P Ulaganathan’). What Would Life Be Like If You Had No Nationality, (Report, March 1999) <https://www.unhcr.org/3b8f92124.pdf>; Waas (n 51) 12. See van Waas (n 50) 12. Special Report — Ending Statelessness Within 10 Years’, UNHCR (Web Page, 4 November 2014) <https://www.unhcr.org/en-in/protection/statelessness/546217229/special-reportending-statelessness-10-years.html>. 196