STATELESSNESS AS A BARRIER TO SELFDETERMINATION: THE ROHINGYA EXPERIENCE, REFUGEE-LED GOVERNANCE, AND THE POLITICS OF BELONGING Alam Murshid Working Paper 26-006 To access all papers in this series, please use the following url: https://indigenousgov.hks.harvard.edu/working-papers Copyright © 2026 by Alam Murshid The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Project on Indigenous Governance and Development working paper series presents novel and innovative ideas and provides a forum for the circulation of working papers produced by scholars, leaders and community members focused on various topics related to Indigenous Peoples’: Self-Determination, Economic Development, Entrepreneurship, Political Institution Building, Property Rights and Legal Institutions, Natural Resources and Conservation, Social and Economic Outcomes, Data Creation and Collection. The mission of the HKS Project on Indigenous Governance and Development is to conduct and promote collaborative research, learning and teaching that improves the political, social, cultural, and economic wellbeing of all Indigenous Peoples, Nations and communities. Our efforts support Indigenous Peoples’ sovereignty, the rights to self-determination and self-governance. Working papers are in draft form. This working paper is distributed for purposes of comment and discussion only. The views expressed — and any policy recommendations made — in Working Papers are the authors’ alone and should not be ascribed to the HKS Project on Indigenous Governance and Development, the Ash Center, Harvard Kennedy School, or Harvard University. Inclusion of a working paper in this series does not imply directly or indirectly any affiliation with Harvard University or any other units. Inclusion in this working paper series does not indicate the working paper has been fully peer reviewed or published in any way. Authors have agreed to our terms of use which may be accessed here. Acknowledgements: The author declares that they do not have any financial conflict of interest in this research.