of state officials in preparing these documents. Spelling mistakes and discrepancies in documents have been the basis on which many applications were denied. Foreigners Tribunals Those excluded from the list must appeal within 120 days to Foreigners Tribunals (FT), a quasi-judicial institution mandated to determine citizenship and detect ‘illegal migrants’. In essence, this implies that the state already considers those excluded from the NRC to be foreigners, and not Indian citizens who are challenging a miscarriage of justice. The number of FTs in operation has increased exponentially in response to the NRC process, with hundreds more being established to process the anticipated mass appeals. As a result, the standard criteria of legal experience and expertise required for members of these bodies has been lowered, a deeply worrying phenomenon, given the life-altering decisions these institutions will make. Further, the FT’s historical bias, well-documented track record of poor and arbitrary decision making and failure to adhere to procedural standards, is particularly worrying. An all too familiar story The Assam NRC process is not an unfamiliar one. Seemingly bureaucratic processes have cloaked and facilitated racist, xenophobic and discriminatory motivations and actions throughout the world and over history. The resultant disenfranchisement and exclusion of entire communities and the human rights deprivations faced by millions, has destabilised societies, undermined economic progress, escalated conflict and caused immeasurable pain and suffering. We have witnessed and responded to the fallout of such ‘bureaucratic processes’ with regard to the Rohingya in Myanmar, the Dominicans of Haitian descent, the Lhotshampa of Bhutan, Kenyan minorities forced to undergo ‘vetting’, Syrian Kurds and the erased of Slovenia (to name but a few). In every situation of manufactured statelessness, individuals and minority communities have faced the brunt of the impact. However, in no such situation has a state benefited. Mass disenfranchisement does not bring with it economic progress, development or peace. Narratives of blame, fear and scapegoating are being propagated for short-sighted political gain in Assam. Arbitrary deprivation of citizenship is a human rights violation in itself, which also hugely undermines the enjoyment of fundamental human rights of those affected and their ability to participate fully in society.