1 STATELESSNESS DOES NOT ONLY EXIST IN HISTORY BUT IS ONGOING, IN REAL TIME AND IN PRACTICALLY EVERY CORNER OF THE WORLD. EVEN THOUGH STATELESSNESS INTERSECTS WITH EVERY OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION, IT REMAINS LARGELY UNKNOWN AND MISUNDERSTOOD. THE LARGE STATELESSNESS KNOWLEDGE GAP, EVEN AMONG PROMINENT DEVELOPMENT, MIGRATION, HUMANITARIAN AND HUMAN RIGHTS ACTORS, IS A CHALLENGE AND BURDEN FOR STATELESS PEOPLE LIKE ME, GLOBALLY. WE ARE NOT JUST A COLLECTION OF STORIES. WE ARE OUR OWN ADVOCATES AND EXPERTS THROUGH OUR LIVED EXPERIENCES. THIS REPORT RECOGNISES STATELESS PEOPLE AS LEADERS WHO MUST SHAPE THE VISION AND MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT THE PRIORITIES THAT DIRECTLY AFFECT OUR LIVES, OUR FAMILIES AND OUR COMMUNITIES. THE ROADMAP OFFERS A WAY FORWARD FOR OUR ALLIES TO CHECK THEIR STATELESSNESS BLIND-SPOTS, CENTRE US IN THEIR ACTIONS AND BE ACCOUNTABLE US WHEN DELIVERING THEIR MANDATES. WE CANNOT END STATELESSNESS BY OURSELVES. TOGETHER WE MUST WORK TO ENVISION A WORLD WHERE NOBODY IS DEPRIVED OF NATIONALITY BASED ON THEIR RACE, ETHNICITY, SEX, GENDER, OR RELIGION. A WORLD WHERE EVERYONE’S HUMAN RIGHT TO NATIONALITY IS PROTECTED AND UPHELD, AND WHERE STATELESSNESS IS TRULY RELEGATED TO THE HISTORY BOOKS. CHECK FOR INSTITUTIONAL BLIND-SPOTS We invite states, UN actors, humanitarian groups and other stakeholders to engage in careful introspection, check for institutional blind-spots, and review and reform policies and practices to ensure that stateless people are prioritised, their particular contexts and needs are understood and addressed and they are not excluded or left behind through: • • • • strengthening awareness of the issue at all levels; acknowledging historical failures; collecting and sharing information on statelessness and nationality rights deprivations; and resourcing the enhancement of capacities, collaborations and funding. 2 INCLUDE, CONSULT & ENGAGE IN DIALOGUE We invite activists and NGOs to make their expertise available and those in positions of power, to have open consultation and meaningful and constructive dialogue with affected communities, and commit to including stateless people on equal terms by: • • • consulting with activists and affected communities; building trust and strengthening solidarity with stateless communities; meeting the needs and priorities of affected communities and ensuring their meaningful participation; and facilitating wider discourse within society and institutions on equality, inclusion and the right to nationality. • 3 BUILD BACK BETTER KARINA AMBARTSOUMIAN-CLOUGH, FOUNDING MEMBER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UNITED STATELESS We invite all actors to learn the hard lessons that the pandemic has taught us and invest in fu, ensuring a lasting commitment to breaking down the pervasive injustice, indignity, inequality, deprivation and exclusion that stateless people face, focusing on: • • • • • • implementing reforms to address discriminatory laws, policies and practices; redressing the intergenerational disadvantage and legacy of statelessness; being accountable to stateless communities and activists; monitoring the performance and progress of states; ensuring access to justice and reparations for stateless people; and sustainably investing in inclusive societies. CESF Consortium, 'Together we Can: The COVID-19 Impact on Stateless People & A Roadmap for Change,' (2021), available at: . For more information about the CESF Consortium, see: . ISI Monthly Bulletins and other key resources can be viewed here: https://www.institutesi.org/resources. 4 See further Chapter on Equality and Non-Discrimination, Chapter on Right to Health and Chapter on Socio-Economic Rights in Part 2 of 'Together We Can: The COVID-19 Impact on Stateless People and Roadmap for Change,' (2021), available at: . 5 See further chapter on Rohingya in Refugee Situations in Part 3 of the Together We Can Report, available at: . 1 2 3 6 October 2017), available at: . 7 Other commonly used terms: ‘Bihari camps’; ‘urban camps’; ‘urban settlements’. 8 GardaWorld, ‘Bangladesh nation-wide lockdown extended until May 30 as COVID-19 spreads to Cox’s Bazar refugee camps / update 12,’ GardaWorld, (15 May 2020), available at: https://www.garda.com/ crisis24/news-alerts/342516/bangladesh-nationwide-lockdown-extended-until-may-30-as-covid-19-spreads-to-coxs-bazar-refugee-camps-update-12. 9 10 11 12 Geneva Camp is the largest refugee camp in Dhaka. Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, ‘Stateless in a Global Pandemic: Impact Report’, (2020), available at: 13 14 . . https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2020/04/03/rice-at-tk10-kg-will-the-real-desti- Ibid Ibid Internal Survey conducted by Nationality for All, Open Society Justice Initiative and Refugee Solidarity Network, (2020). 18 The Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, (1972), available at: http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/act-367.html. 19 The Citizenship Act, (1951), available at: 20 The Bangladesh Citizenship (Temporary Provisions) Order, (1972), available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b51f10.html. 21 Bangladesh Citizenship (Temporary Provisions) Rules (1978), available at: 22 R. Hoque, ‘Report on Citizenship Law: Bangladesh’, (2016), available at: 15 16 17 23 October 2017), available at: . 24 CESF Consortium, 'Together we Can: The COVID-19 Impact on Stateless People & A Roadmap for Change,' (2021), available at: . . . .