STRUCTURE 38 The report is divided into three chapters, viz. status, detention and socio-economic rights. the first chapter discusses the status of precarious citizens in Assam and stateless persons in the Indian territory. It highlights the legal requirement to recognise their right to nationality and the ways in which it shall be implemented. It highlights the duty of the state to prevent and reduce statelessness. It argues that precarious citizens cannot be subjected to arbitrary citizenship deprivation procedures and threatened with statelessness. The chapter also specifically focuses on the state obligation to prevent statelessness among children. Detention of precarious citizens and the stateless is one of the most urgent issues. Yet the legal norms governing this remain the least developed in the area. the second chapter on detention covers the prohibition of arbitrary detention of precarious citizens and stateless persons. In the light of ongoing detention of precarious citizens in Assam, the chapter elaborates the underlying prohibition of indefinite detention along with the applicable procedural rights and remedies. It highlights the paramount obligation to ensure the rights of child detainees. It also suggests alternatives to detention for stateless persons in India. the third chapter focuses on the legal norms related to the protection of basic rights such as the right to health, food and nutrition, housing, education and employment of stateless individuals and precarious citizens. It further develops the applicable norms regarding children’s social, economic and cultural rights given the higher protection of rights available to them. It strongly suggests better access to documentation since it is fundamental to access these rights. M. Mohsin Alam Bhat and Aashish Yadav New Delhi September 2020 SECURING CITIZENSHIP