2022 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 4(2) institution, this group of people are still considered to be Bangladeshis and therefore treated as aliens, despite having little to no connection to Bangladesh.32 LOCAL CONTEXT A Machar Colony In this commentary, individuals from Machar Colony will be used as a case study on the discriminatory practice of denying citizenship and the effects of this denial. In the colony, while about half of the Bengali population have NICs, the other half has had great difficulty in attaining one.33 Even those with valid CNICs face challenges in renewing their cards, and many residents of Machar Colony have had their cards blocked or rescinded due to systemic discrimination, rendering them stateless. Many stateless individuals do not possess or have difficulty obtaining documentation identifying their historical residence in Pakistan to support their claims of citizenship. Some did not foresee the need to prove their deep-rooted connection to Pakistan.34 Due to this, registration officers either deny their application for NICs or put their application under inquiry. The inquiry process usually takes six to seven years, causing families to wait inordinately for resolution. Experts agree that the registration and conferral of ID cards has made the process of registering and keeping track of citizens, and accessibility to many basic public and private resources, substantially more efficient.35 One research article concluded that NICs played a major role in providing disaster relief to Pakistani regions affected by floods in 2010.36 This example further substantiates the fact that withholding a CNIC from a rightful individual is equal to restricting their access to indispensable resources that should be rightfully available to all. B Healthcare Access to healthcare remains a serious problem faced by the stateless community due to exclusion, xenophobia, poverty and structural barriers. The COVID-19 case illustrates the challenges. Due to a lack of identity documentation and the challenge of travelling great distances to sites that administer the vaccines, many stateless people are unable to sign up for the COVID-19 vaccine.37 In addition, many are hesitant to seek medical help for fear of being detained and deported.38 Before spring 2021, only citizens with an ID number could sign up for COVID- 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 Mughal and Baloch (n 6). UPR Submission (n 4) 5–6 [15]. ‘Pakistan Treats its Own Bengali Citizens as Aliens’, Policy Research Group (Blog Post, 25 October 2010) <https://www.policyresearchgroup.com/pakistan-treats-its-own-bengalicitizens-as-aliens>, archived at <perma.cc/8EHH-MTGP>. Raza Ullah, Muhammad Yasir Abbass and Arif Khattak, ‘Exploring the Role of Computerized National Identity Card (Citizens’ Registration Card) in Securing Women’s Property Rights in Pakistan’ (2015) 8(2) Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences 213, 215–16; Gobind M Herani, ‘Computerized National Identity Card, NADRA Kiosks and its Prospects in Pakistan’ (2007) 1(2) Indian Journal of Science and Technology 1. Ayesha Siddiqi, ‘“Disaster Citizenship”: An Emerging Framework for Understanding the Depth of Digital Citizenship in Pakistan’ (2018) 26(2) Contemporary South Asia 157, 157, 170. UPR Submission (n 4) 13 [42], [44]. Talha Burki, ‘Statelessness in the COVID-19 Pandemic’ (2021) 397 The Lancet 1529, 1529. 290