A/78/256 minority who predominantly reside in Rakhine state and have limited access to citizenship. 16 21. In India, residents living along the border between India and Bangladesh have a long history of being considered foreigners. In the Indian state of Assam, the National Register of Citizens lists only those persons identified as “genuine citizens” and stipulates that any person entering the state after the date of creation of Bangladesh would be considered a foreigner, unless proven otherwise, and would therefore be guilty of illegal immigration. 17 This has had the effect of retroactively denying citizenship by birth to persons born in Assam prior to 1985, as well as citizenship by descent. 18 The updated National Register remains inaccurate and incomplete and, while claims to revise data in the Register remain pending, the burden of proof is largely imposed on individuals, who may be re troactively denied citizenship. As a result of these processes, over 2 million people, including women and girls, are currently at risk of statelessness in Assam. 19 V. Causes of gender-discriminatory nationality laws and statelessness 22. The following section is focused strictly on the causes of gender-discriminatory nationality laws. The Special Rapporteur does not probe comprehensively the causes of statelessness, such as those whereby persons deemed to be outsiders may be stripped of their nationality as a tool of discrimination and/or persecution on the basis of different grounds or for other reasons. Patriarchal values 23. Gender-discriminatory nationality laws are shaped by patriarchal and colonial legal values that find their origin in common and civil law systems that have a prejudicial approach to family relations, including that the nationality of a child is derived from the father’s nationality in a marriage. Many of these laws were imposed during the colonial era. 20 Such prejudicial concepts have been reinforced through stereotypical representations of the man as the head of the household and the women as a dependant; these have long been used to justify gender-discriminatory laws and practices to prevent women from acquiring, retain ing or transmitting nationality, irrespective of the nationality status of their spouse. Some States apply the principle of “dependent nationality”, which ties the nationality of a married woman to that of her male spouse. 24. A woman’s nationality may also be automatically withdrawn if she marries a foreign national or is required to renounce her nationality to acquire her spouse’s nationality. Moreover, a woman who loses her nationality owing to the loss of a spouse’s nationality may have her application to recover her original nationality refused on the ground that she is no longer a national, even though the right of return to one’s country of origin is guaranteed in international law. Certain social and cultural norms deny women’s right to register children and require the presence of a __________________ 16 17 18 19 20 23-14780 Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, “Dangerous journeys through Myanmar: insecurities and immobilities for Rohingya and Muslim women in post -coup Myanmar”, March 2022. India, Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003. Nationality For All, Minority Rights Group International and Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, “Joint submission to the Human Rights Council at the 41st session of the Universal Periodic Review, India”, 31 March 2022. Ibid. Radha Govil and Alice Edwards, “Women, nationality and statelessness: the problem of unequal rights”, p. 173. 9/23