Disclaimer References to resources not published by UNHCR cannot be considered to constitute endorsement of the views expressed therein. The present guide was developed by Laura van Waas, Ph.D.; schematics in Annex 4 were developed by Santhosh Persaud with suggestions from Laura van Waas and Katherine Gilchrist. Acknowledgements Appreciation goes to those academics and practitioners who have enriched this guide with their comments and suggestions. © 2010 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees All rights reserved. Reproductions and translations are authorized, provided UNHCR is acknowledged as the source. For more information, please contact: Statelessness Unit Division of International Protection Case Postale 2500 1211 Geneva, Switzerland This document along with further information on statelessness is available on UNHCR’s Refworld website: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/statelessness.html and UNHCR’s homepage on statelessness: http://www.unhcr.org/statelessness Cover photo: A woman from the Urdu-speaking community in Bangladesh (often referred to as Biharis). The Urdu-speaking communities had not been recognized as nationals of Bangladesh after independence in 1971. This recently changed after a landmark judgement of the High Court in Dhaka in 2008 confirmed that they are in fact Bangladeshi citizens. UNHCR / G.M.B. AKUSH