South Asia State of Minorities Report 2019 • Urdu-speaking Biharis, a sizeable group uprooted since independence: for decades they lacked formal citizenship and continue to suffer various forms of discrimination to this day. • Dalits, among the most excluded populations in the country: though recognised as nationals of Bangladesh, they in reality are often victims of de facto statelessness due to extreme marginalisation and limited access to basic rights. • Rohingya, the world’s largest stateless community: apart from the human rights challenges faced by its own citizens, Bangladesh is now a place of refuge for almost 1 million Rohingya3 displaced by violence from neighbouring Myanmar. Enclave communities, situated in contested areas along the Bangladesh-India border, are also at a high risk of statelessness. While the profound difficulties experienced by these groups have lessened to some degree since the 2015 agreement brokered between the two countries, it remains to be seen how their newly attained status as residents of India or Bangladesh will be resolved. Their situation is not covered in detail here though. This study develops a qualitative profile of statelessness among these three groups, drawing on a range of primary and secondary sources, including official reports, private testimony, published and unpublished research, seminar papers, articles, presentations, digital content on social media, and mainstream media outlets. It aims to identify to what extent each group is in a situation of statelessness, assess the scale of the challenges they face and offer a series of targeted recommendations to address these issues. Urdu-Speaking Bangladeshis (Biharis) Background The Urdu-speaking community in Bangladesh comprise a linguistic minority, popularly known as ‘Bihari’, though not all Urdu-speaking individuals belong to this group. This community emigrated from Bihar and other parts of India during and after the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 3 Committee Against Torture, Initial report submitted by Bangladesh under article 19 of the Convention, July 23, 2019, p. 16. 16 16