FA M I LY L AW Administrative Orders on Marriage Registration: 2002, 2004, 2014, and 2017 Circulars banning marriage with Rohingya S UMMARY A “strict order” issued by the Inspector General of Registration, Directorate of Registration, dated 9 July 2014, instructing nikah (Muslim Marriage and Divorce Registrars) registrars not to register any marriage of “local residents” with non-citizen “Rohingya refugees.” The notice warned that non-compliance with the order will result in “legal consequences” for the Muslim marriage registrars. A similar order was issued by the Law and Justice Division of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs on 25 October 2017, covering marriage registrars in a number of “Special Areas” where Rohingya are living, designated by the Election Commission in the context of the 2018 Voter List update. A PPL ICAB IL IT Y TO RO H I NGYA The most recent Administrative Order is applicable to Bangladeshi nikah registrars in instances of registering marriages between Rohingya and Bangladeshi citizens. It therefore has an effect on and covers Rohingya who seek to register their marriages to Bangladeshi citizens. PROTECTIO N NOT ES Generally, there is no legal bar for a Bangladeshi to marry a foreigner, with the exception of some restrictions which apply to public servants, and therefore the legal basis for restricting the registration of marriages between Bangladeshi citizens and Rohingya individuals is unclear. The 2014 and 2017 circulars do not actually prohibit Rohingya-Bangladeshi marriages. Rather, they seek to stop the official registration of marriages between “local residents” and “members of the Rohingya community” in the Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban, Rangamati, and Chattogram districts by requiring marriage registrars to stringently check the national IDs of individuals applying to have their marriage registered. Thus these orders per se do not prohibit marriage by Rohingya in Bangladesh, and marriages regularly take place without registration. In practice, however, the above notification has created a de facto ban on registration of Rohingya-Bangladeshi marriages, and although unclear under what basis, the police reportedly pursue Bangladeshi citizens who have married a Rohingya refugee for allegedly violating provisions of the Foreigners Act. 28 BE YOND REFU GE: ADVANCING LEG AL PROTECTIONS FOR ROHINGYA C OMMUNITIES IN BANGL ADESH