A young Urdu-speaking girl in Dhaka, Bangladesh. ©UNHCR / G.M.B. Akash policy. But progress on this issue was hampered by divided loyalties among members of the community and differences over the appropriate solution to end their statelessness.9 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.10 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 case, Khan v. Bangladesh (2003)11 (2003 Khan case), 10 Urdu-speakers petitioned the Bangladesh Supreme Court, High Court Division (High Court) to direct the Election Commission of Bangladesh to register them as voters. The petitioners claimed that not only had they been denied the right to register to vote in forthcoming elections despite being citizens, two Government authorities named as respondents in their case had informed them verbally that Urdu-speaking Geneva Camp residents were categorically not entitled to vote in Bangladesh. In a decision handed down on 5 May 2003, the High Court ruled that the petitioners were Bangladeshi citizens as a matter of law, were entitled to be registered as Bangladeshi voters, and ordered the Election Commission to enrol them as such. 9 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. 10 For example, the Association of Young Generation of Urdu-Speaking Community (AYGUSC) worked with the Dhaka-University 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/1310-Bangladeshi-at-last.html. 11 Abid Khan and others v. Government of Bangladesh and others, Writ Petition No. 3831 of 2001, Bangladesh: Supreme Court, 5 March 2003, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4a54bbcf0.html. 10 CAMPAIGN TO END STATELESSNESS WITHIN 10 YE ARS