State of Statelessness in Bangladesh arrest, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation by employers and harassment.30 The situation has worsened since the government’s failed attempts in August 2019 to repatriate some Rohingya to Myanmar. Authorities responded to protests by Rohingya with a crackdown on NGO activity and the imposition of further restrictions on mobile phone services within the camp,31 accompanied by plans to create a barbed wire security fence to curb free movement.32 Conclusion This discussion on the situation of statelessness in Bangladesh raises a plethora of questions. First of all, it should be mentioned that, with the exception of a few case studies, no comprehensive study on the situation of the stateless and at-risk populations has been undertaken to date in Bangladesh. This chapter therefore carries some obvious limitations. Nevertheless, the different stories and histories of the country’s most marginalised groups suggest that a systematic process of discrimination and legal subordination has led many to the verge of statelessness. One of the main communities that this work has focused on is the cause of the linguistic minority—the Urdu-speakers of Bangladesh (Biharis). Community members are still confined in camps across the country and remain isolated from mainstream society. The newly proposed citizenship law could set back much of the tentative progress achieved since 2008, when their citizenship was finally recognised. Their situation shows how the acquisition of citizenship may be used as an instrument of exclusion, and the difficulties of drawing a clear line between 30 Tarek Mahmud, ‘A number of Rohingyas leave camps, work illegally across Bangladesh,’ Dhaka Tribune, January 9, 2018, accessed December 1, 2019, https:// www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2018/01/09/number-rohingyas-leave-campswork-illegally-across-bangladesh. 31 ‘Bangladesh should end restrictions on movement, internet access of Rohingyas: HRW,’ The Daily Star, September 07, 2019, https://www.thedailystar. net/rohingya-crisis/news/bangladesh-should-end-restrictions-rohingyashrw-1796878. 32 ‘Barbed wire fences around Rohingya camps soon,’ The Daily Star, September 26, 2019, accessed October 25, 2019, https://www.thedailystar. net/rohingya-crisis/barbed-wire-fences-be-erected-around-rohingya-campssoon-1805665. 29