Previous UPR Reviews of India 4. India was previously reviewed during the 8th (First Cycle - 2008), 21st (Second Cycle 2012), and 36th (Third Cycle - 2017) Sessions of the UPR. During the Second Cycle, India received three relevant recommendations: to ratify the UN statelessness and refugee conventions (Ghana);4 and ensure universal birth registration (Holy See), particularly for people living in extreme poverty, belonging to religious minorities or in remote areas (Mexico). All three recommendations were noted.5 5. During the Third Cycle, Kenya and Slovakia recommended that India accede to and implement the Statelessness and 1951 Refugee Conventions, and Kenya recommended the implementation of article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to end statelessness and guarantee nationality for affected children. These recommendations were noted. 6 Mexico reiterated its previous recommendation on birth registration (which India accepted), Slovakia recommended ensuring children’s rights to a nationality regardless of the legal status or ethnicity of their parents, and Bahrain recommended India remove barriers prohibiting castes and tribes from registering their children’s births (which India noted).7 India’s International obligations 6. Despite its membership of the Human Rights Council, India is not party to key international conventions including the Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons, Convention on Reduction of Statelessness and Convention on the Status of Refugees. 7. Nevertheless, India has international obligations to protect the right to a nationality and the rights of stateless persons on the basis of other treaties to which it is party. These include, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (Article 24.3), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (Articles. 2.2 and 3), CRC (Articles 2, 3, 7 and 8), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (Article 9), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) (Article 5(d)(iii)), and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) (Article 18). Snapshot of Statelessness in India 8. There are many communities in India that are stateless or at risk of statelessness. Historically, groups like the Chakma and Hajong have been stateless in India for many generations. Many Refugees from Tibet and Sri Lanka are also (at risk of) statelessness. Further, tens of thousands of stateless Rohingya refugees live in India, though they are denied protection and a secure legal status. Over 140,000 people have been ‘Declared Foreigners’ through the implementation of an arbitrary and controversial legal 4 Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review* India, 21st sess, UN Doc A/HRC/21/10 (9 July 2012) [138.25]. 5 Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review* India, 21st sess, UN Doc A/HRC/21/10 (9 July 2012) [138.131, 138.132]. 6 Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review* India, 36th sess, UN Doc A/HRC/36/10 (17 July 2017) [161.32 and 161.33]. 7 Ibid [161.150-161.152.]. 2