Law or policy reform enabling automatic acquisition of nationality Although the Urdu-speakers qualified for Bangladeshi citizenship pursuant to the relevant laws in force,10 in practice, from 1971-2008 the Bangladeshi authorities refused to consider the remaining Urdu-speakers in Bangladesh as its nationals. Urdu-speakers were systematically excluded by the Government from exercising many of the rights accorded to Bangladeshi citizens, including the ability to obtain national identity documents and access education, as well as other basic services. The fact that the Urdu-speaking community was entitled to Bangladeshi citizenship by law but denied it in practice meant that any change in the situation would require a fundamental shift in Government policy. However, progress on this issue was hampered by divided loyalties among members of the community and differences over the appropriate solution to end their statelessness.11 Meanwhile, members of the younger generation of Urdu-speakers in Bangladesh began to emerge from the camps and integrate into Bangladeshi society. Some did so by learning to speak Bangla and expending their scarce resources to obtain an education from private institutions. The younger generation also formed several community-based NGOs.12 Community-driven strategic litigation to prompt systemic policy change The younger generation of Urdu-speaking activists decided to pursue strategic litigation to confirm the right of Urdu-speakers to Bangladeshi citizenship. In the first landmark 10 11 12 16 According to the Adaptation of Existing Bangladesh Laws Order of 1972, all pre-existing laws were to remain in force, meaning that the Pakistani Citizenship Act of 1951 governs nationality. This law confers Bangladeshi citizenship on every person born in Bangladesh after independence or born to a father who is a citizen of Bangladesh. Further, the Bangladesh Citizenship (Temporary Provisions) Order of 1972, also known as the President’s Order, confirmed as Bangladeshi citizens all those who were resident in Bangladesh at the time of independence and continued to reside in Bangladesh, without any ethnic or linguistic distinctions, in addition to those who were born in Bangladesh or whose father or grandfather was born there. Please see Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951 (Bangladesh) [Bangladesh], II of 1951, 13 April 1951, available at: http://www. unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6b52a8.htm l; and Bangladesh Citizenship (Temporary Provisions) Order, 1972 [Bangladesh], 149 of 1972, 26 March 1971, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6b51f10.html For example, community members of the older generation of Urdu-speakers formed the Stranded Pakistanis General Repatriation Committee (SPGRC) and continued to advocate that their community be allowed to repatriate to Pakistan. After Pakistan’s initial acceptance of the 109,000 in 1973, Pakistan lost interest in the repatriation of any more Urdu speakers from Bangladesh. For example, the Association of Young Generation of Urdu-Speaking Community (AYGUSC) worked with the DhakaUniversity based Refugee and Migratory Movement Research Unit to support its advocacy by providing historical and sociological background on the development of the Urdu-speaking community and its integration in Bangladesh. See Saad Hamadi, Bangladeshi at Last, October 2007, available at: http://www.himalmag.com/component/content/article/1310Bangladeshi-at-last.html U N H C R > G P P A C T I O N 1 : R E S O LV I N G E X I S T I N G M A J O R S I T U AT I O N S O F S TAT E L E S S N E S S