Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 41st Session of the Universal Periodic Review. INDIA Introduction 1. Nationality for All (NFA),1 Minority Rights Group International (MRG)2 and the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI)3 make this joint submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), on the right to a nationality and human rights challenges pertaining to statelessness in India. 2. The co-submitting organisations have developed this submission in close collaboration with Indian partner organisations that work on the right to nationality, the rights of stateless people and refugees, and related issues. However, after careful consideration of the growing risks faced by our Indian partner organisations, we collectively decided that they would not be named as co-submitters. This decision, solely for the purpose of mitigating risks, is indicative of the extent to which civil society space has deteriorated in India, particularly for those who work to hold the Indian government to account on politically charged issues such as the right to nationality and the rights of stateless people and refugees. 3. This submission focuses on the following issues: I. Citizenship determination and deprivation in Assam; II. Arbitrary detention of stateless persons; III. Denial of rights to non-citizens; IV. Stateless refugees in India. 1 Nationality For All (NFA) was formed from the work undertaken by the Statelessness Network Asia Pacific (SNAP) to build a regional civil society movement on addressing statelessness in the region. With the vision of ensuring nationality for all, NFA works closely with stateless persons, persons affected by statelessness, grassroot organizations, activists, and national NGOs. NFA aspires to increase the proximity to power of persons with lived experience of statelessness through their meaningful participation in the statelessness ecosystem. For more information, see https://nationalityforall.org/ 2 Minority Rights Group International (MRG) is an international non-governmental organisation working to secure the rights of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and indigenous peoples worldwide, and to promote cooperation and understanding between communities. MRG works with over 150 organisations in nearly 50 countries. MRG has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, observer status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and is a civil society organisation registered with the Organization of American States. For more information, see https://minorityrights.org/ 3 The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI) is the first and only human rights NGO dedicated to working on statelessness at the global level. ISI’s mission is to promote inclusive societies by realising and protecting everyone’s right to a nationality. The Institute has made over 80 country specific UPR submissions on the human rights of stateless persons. ISI has also compiled summaries of the key human rights challenges related to statelessness in all countries under review under the 23rd to the 40th UPR Sessions. For more information, see https://www.institutesi.org/. 1