the Bihari Community in Bangladesh 667 involved in anti-independence activities and perpetrated violence against Bengalis.21 Following the creation of Bangladesh, many Biharis were persecuted because of their alleged involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity.22 Article 1(2) of the Stateless Persons Convention 1954 states that: This Convention shall not apply to persons with respect to whom there are serious reasons for considering that they have committed a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity, as defined in the international instruments drawn up to make provisions in respect of such crimes.23 The issue of the Bihari has not noticeably been brought up at the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh in recent advocacy and actions in the prosecution of alleged war criminals in Bangladesh.24 This article focuses primarily on the legal issues relating to the Bihari community in Bangladesh under domestic and international law. Section 2 deals with the history and present status of the Bihari community. Section 3 deals with the Tripartite Agreement between Bangladesh, India and Pakistan and role of the judiciary in Bangladesh and Pakistan. The last section of the article emphasises the right of return and repatriation under international law, and the role of the international community in providing a lasting solution to this long-standing issue between Bangladesh and Pakistan, concentrating on the responsibilities of both countries. 2 Present Status of the Bihari Community The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (udhr) states that “Everyone has the right to a nationality” and “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his 21 22 23 24 Bina D’Costa, ‘Borders, Boundaries and Stateless’, in Ali Riaz and Sajjadur Rahman (eds.), Contemporary Bangladesh (Routledge, New York, 2016) p. 402. Ibid. See Article 1(2) of the Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, 1954. The International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh (ict) was set up in 2009 for the investigation, detention, prosecution and punishment of persons for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other crimes (under ‘The International Crimes (Tribunal) Act, 1973’ with following international law) committed in 1971 by the Pakistani Army and their local collaborators, Razakars, Al-Badrand, Al-Shams during the Liberation War of Bangladesh. See further International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh, <www.ict-bd.org/>, visited on 4 January 2018. international journal on minority and group rights 25 (2018) 664-678 This content downloaded from 147.188.245.205 on Wed, 25 Oct 2023 15:43:57 +00:00 All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms <UN>