SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: SOUTH ASIA SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: SOUTH ASIA required period of residence has been reduced to five years for persons from the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian community from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, or Pakistan as a result of the Citizenship Amendment Act (2019).2154 Stateless individuals are not eligible for the naturalization process, unless in exceptional cases at the discretion of the Central Government. An individual who has been categorized as an “illegal immigrant” or has renounced or been deprived of his citizenship previously also does not have access to naturalization provisions.2155 During its 4th Universal Periodic Review in 2019, India was advised to ratify the Conventions on Statelessness along with the Refugee Convention and take the necessary steps to implement them domestically.2158 The recommendations also included a review of the National Register of Citizens to “avoid statelessness, deprivation or denial of nationality, arbitrary detentions or expulsions”.2159 In the UN’s report submitted prior to the review, India was recommended to establish statelessness determination procedures to strengthen its framework for protection and assistance of stateless persons.2160 It was also recommended that India expedite the naturalization for certain groups and extend the application of the Citizenship Amendment Act (2019) to other persecuted groups.2161 Further, “several special procedure mandate holders called on the authorities to take resolute action to review the implementation of the National Register of Citizens and other similar processes in Assam and in other states, and to ensure that they did not result in statelessness, discriminatory or arbitrary deprivation or denial of nationality, mass expulsion or arbitrary detention”.2162 Such arbitrary arrests and detention put India in violation of its obligations under ICCPR, which asks for a detention to not just be lawful, but also be” necessary, proportionate and reasonable.”2163 Dual citizenship India does not currently offer dual citizenship.2156 A person seeking to become an Indian citizen must renounce citizenship of another country. However, the Government of India introduced a scheme for overseas citizenship in 2006. To reduce and prevent statelessness, the Citizenship Rules (2009) provide that an individual acquiring Indian citizenship needs to renounce their foreign citizenship only once their application for Indian citizenship has been sanctioned, providing a safeguard in case their citizenship application does not get approved.2157 Treaty ratification status While India has not yet ratified the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, or the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, it has ratified the ICCPR, ICESCR, ICERD, CRC, and CEDAW with no relevant reservations. In 2019, the CRPD Committee expressed concern about persons with disabilities, particularly Muslim persons with disabilities, detained in camps of Assam and rendered stateless.2164 It recommended India to adopt measures for TABLE 54 It recommended India to adopt measures for reacquisition of nationality to those persons with disabilities rendered stateless as well as those in detention camps. reacquisition of nationality to those persons with disabilities rendered stateless as well as those in detention camps.2165 Children’s citizenship in India is determined by birth and requires at least one parent to be an Indian citizen and the other must not be an undocumented migrant.2166 The Citizenship Act does not provide citizenship to stateless children. The Act is stated to not contain provisions explaining who it considers to be a parent or to clarify whether it includes different sets of parents of a child such as unmarried, adoptive, biological, or surrogate parents. The Citizenship Act does not cover foundlings with unknown parentage who are protected by Article 2 of the 1961 Convention which protects such children if there is no proof found to the contrary against them. While India is not a signatory to the 1961 Convention, it is a party to the CRC which requires that children be immediately registered after their birth and have a right to a nationality.2167 The Citizenship Act is in direct contravention to India’s obligations under International Law. figure covers only Rohingya refugees registered with the UNHCR and is not an estimate of the entire stateless population in India.2169 In the Lok Sabha (the lower house of India’s bicameral Parliament) in 2021, the Central Government through the Ministry of Home Affairs has stated that it does not maintain data at a central level of foreigners who have entered India without valid travel documents claiming to be refugees, asylum seekers or stateless persons and that they are governed by the provisions of the Foreigners Act.2170 This is in contrast with the position it took the Ministry took in 2014 when it informed the Lok Sabha that there were 10,340 such persons from Afghanistan, 4,621 persons from Myanmar, 102,241 persons from Sri Lanka and 101,148 stateless persons including Tibetans.2171 In the Lok Sabha (the lower house of India’s bicameral Parliament) in 2021, the Central Government through the Ministry of Home Affairs has stated that it does not maintain data at a central level of foreigners who have entered India without valid travel documents claiming to be refugees, asylum seekers or stateless persons and that they are governed by the provisions of the Foreigners Act. Persons at risk of statelessness Population Reported stateless persons In 2022, India reported a stateless population of 21,591 persons.2168 UNHCR has noted that this There are a number of different populations groups in India at risk of statelessness including Tibetan and Sri Lankan refugees, Bengali Muslims in Assam, ethnic minority groups living in border regions (including the Chakma, Hjong and Kutchi communities) and former Kashmiri militants.2172 TABLE 55 Status of Accession of International Human Rights Treaties in South Asia Reported stateless persons to the UNHCR Country India ✅ ⛔ 194 Stateless 1 ⛔ Stateless 2 ⛔ Refugee Signifies that the country is a party to the convention Signifies that the country is not a party to the convention ⛔ ICCPR ✅ ICESCR ✅ ICERD ✅ CRC ✅ CEDAW ✅ Stateless 1 - 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons Stateless 2 - 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC (DETAILED VERSION) Country India 2019 (year start)2173 2020 (year end)2174 2021 (year end)2175 2022 (year end)2176 17,730 18,174 20,154 21,591 Source: UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement from 2019-2022. 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