Country Position Paper: Statelessness in Myanmar remain having been displaced by the violence of 2012. 58 Populations from the IDP camps often move on to refugee situations elsewhere, for example IDPs from Rakhine State unable to return home have moved on to Malaysia or Bangladesh and IDPs from Kachin areas have sometimes moved across the border into China. Many IDPs do not have identification documents due to displacement and destruction of their properties and possessions. There are multiple barriers to civil registration and accessing identity documents including the requirement to apply for identity cards from their home town and the increased scrutiny of applications. 59 Additionally, ethnic minorities from areas historically affected by conflict with the central state or areas that have been under non-government control, such as Karen or Mon, face multiple barriers to accessing recognition of their citizenship. Those without the correct documentation face barriers to travel and in accessing health, education and financial services. Returning refugees Refugees returning to Myanmar from the camps in Thailand, Bangladesh and elsewhere face multiple barriers to proving their citizenship and residence rights. In 1993-4 approximately 200,000 Rohingya refugees were repatriated from Bangladesh to Myanmar. Marriages that took place in the camps of Bangladesh were not recognised on return to Myanmar. Families faced multiple barriers in registering on the household list new marital partners, children born as result of those marriages, and children born in Bangladesh. Unregistered or “blacklisted” returnees faced harassment, extortion and arrest in Myanmar. As a result, many fled Myanmar again. 60 Myanmar also does not recognise the birth certificates of refugees born in Thailand, potentially creating barriers to accessing rights and benefits on return to Myanmar. 61 Returning refugees without the correct documents are unable to access their rights and remain unable to move or relocate within Myanmar. Stateless Rohingya are at risk of forced repatriation to Myanmar. Key resource: The Institute of Statelessness and Inclusion has issued guidelines on conditions to be met for the repatriation of stateless Rohingya, “Repatriation, Statelessness and Refugee Status” http://www.institutesi.org/repatriation_statelessness_and_refugee_status_2017.pdf PROTECTION CHALLENGES FACED BY MYANMAR’S STATELESS POPULATION OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY Myanmar’s stateless populations are found throughout the world including Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle-East. Unable to acquire Human Rights Watch, All you can do is pray: Crimes against Humanity and Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Burma’s Arakan State, 2013 59 Norwegian Refugee Council, 2017, Half A Million Identities https://www.nrc.no/news/2017/june/half-a-million-identities/ 60 Fortify Rights, Policies of Persecution: Ending Abusive State Policies Against Rohingya Muslims, 2014 https://www.fortifyrights.org/downloads/Policies_of_Persecution_Feb_25_Fortify_Rights.pdf 61 NRC et al, 2018. 58 14