Report on Citizenship Law: Nepal Beyond these issues, research shows that there are significant administrative and procedural hurdles in the process of citizenship acquisition. That is, “many of the documents required or used to apply for a citizenship certificate, such as a land title or voter registration, are themselves only acquirable with the possession of a citizenship certificate. For the most marginalised members of Nepalese society, such as indigenous groups whose customary land practices do not use official land titles or trafficking survivors, who are often abandoned or betrayed by their families, possession of these legal documents (and therefore, the acquisition of a citizenship certificate) is nearly impossible”.90 The recent study clearly shows that the number of people without citizenship certificates in Nepal will continue to increase unless the Government takes some special measures to bridge the gap. The current number of people without a citizenship certificate stands at 4.6 million – 22.82% of the total population. Projections show that this figure will rise to 6.7 million, or 26.14% of the total population, in 2021.91 6. Conclusion Without citizenship certificates, people are unable to enjoy fundamental rights in Nepal. Possession of these certificates is required for civil documentation and financial services. Moreover, they are required to access land and house titles, credit and bank accounts, and to be able to exercise basic civil and political rights. As a significant portion of Nepal’s population lacks citizenship certificates, the government and civil society should make continued efforts to advocate for all eligible Nepalese to have access to them. Following the restoration of multiparty democracy in 1990, all Nepalese governments have made attempts to address the citizenship issue by forming investigative committees and citizenship teams and by introducing new laws and amending the existing acts and regulations. Between 1975 and 1993, eight citizenship teams and three high-level investigative committees were formed to facilitate the distribution of citizenship certificates. Nevertheless, citizenship provision is still highly debated. Therefore, it is high time that the government, lawmakers and authorities take the issue of citizenship seriously and provide citizenship to eligible Nepalese people so that there remains no risk of these people being stateless. 90 91 Ibid Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD), Acquisition of Citizenship Certificate in Nepal: Estimation and Projection, December 2015, Kathmandu, p. 16. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2017/8 - © 2017 Author 17