SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS THE RIGHT TO NATIONALITY, DOCUMENTATION AND LEGAL STATUS EQUALITY AND NON-DISCRIMINATION 8 When the pandemic took hold in early 2020, state responses prioritised citizens to the exclusion and detriment of migrants, refugees and stateless people. Over a year into the crisis, there has been hardly any shift in the approach to social and economic support by states and other actors. The lack of documentation has resulted in exclusion from state relief in the Dominican Republic, France, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Montenegro, Nepal, North Macedonia, South Africa and the United States. This is further compounded by reports of discriminatory exclusion of stateless people from state relief in Bangladesh and Central Asia. Further, the stateless in Montenegro and North Macedonia have been excluded from humanitarian relief efforts. There has been a significant impact on employment and income and consequently the loss of livelihoods amongst the stateless and those at risk of statelessness. CESF Consortium members from Bangladesh, Central Asia, the Dominican Republic, India, Malaysia, Montenegro and North Macedonia as well as Rohingyas in Bangladesh, India and Malaysia all cited the inability to access formal employment as a significant factor to the loss of income. Jobs are mainly found in the informal sector which have been brought to a standstill with the implementation of lockdowns and curfews. In Malaysia, North Macedonia, the Dominican Republic and Thailand there are further barriers to education during lockdowns due to the nature of online classes and the need for access to equipment and the internet. In order to address the threat to public health, most States implemented restrictions which limit civil and political rights. Most states have implemented COVID-19 restrictions in order to protect public health. Some states have also introduced more permanent restrictions to rights. Stateless communities and those whose nationality is at risk continue to face ongoing restrictions and rights violations which, due to pre-existing conditions are having a disproportionately devastating impact. In the CESF Consortium Project focus countries, arbitrary detention, the risk of arrest and fear of harassment by officials has impacted stateless populations and those whose nationality is at risk in India and Malaysia as well as Rohingya communities in their country of refuge. For those in detention during the pandemic, there is an increased risk of infection due to the inability to adequately social distance or self-isolate. Reports of such issues have come from countries including Australia, Malaysia and Thailand. Specific to Rohingya refugees, in the context of COVID-19, access to UNHCR or asylum procedures on arrival in their host county is limited, heightening their risk of arrest and arbitrary detention. During the pandemic, countries including Malaysia and Thailand have pushed boats of Rohingya back out to sea, using COVID-19 as an excuse to deny entry and protection. Restrictions on freedom of movement have exacerbated the impacts of COVID-19 including for those trying to seek healthcare outside of refugee camps in Greece; and in Abkhazia, with many ethnic Georgians residing in Abkhazia being prevented from crossing into Georgia to access healthcare, livelihoods, education or family reunion. COVID-19 related measures have impacted the right to nationality, documentation and legal status in deeply concerning ways. Disruptions to crucial civil registration procedures have resulted in delays and backlogs leaving stateless people and those whose nationality is at risk in limbo, completely vulnerable to the multiple effects of COVID-19. The report looks at the impacts of such disruptions in Central Asia, the Dominican Republic, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Kenya, Montenegro, Nepal, North Macedonia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Such documentation and registration challenges also subject people to longer-term risks of statelessness i.e. unregistered births and subsequent non-issuance of IDs can heighten the risk of statelessness, particularly among minority and border communities and those with migrant heritage. There have been disruptions to other procedures that provide legal status and access to basic rights to people with protection needs. Asylum and statelessness determination procedures have been disrupted in countries including Bulgaria, Germany, Ukraine, South Africa and Colombia. Rohingya refugees’ access to UNHCR has been greatly restricted, diminishing their chances of being registered and receiving documentation, and correspondingly heightening the risk or arrest and detention. A number of countries have also had disruptions to permanent residence applications, visa processes and other consular services, particularly impacting stateless migrants and families affected by gender discriminatory nationality laws. Discrimination continues to be an underlying and entrenched driving force behind statelessness worldwide. The research looks more closely at various manifestations and consequences of discrimination in the context of the pandemic, including the increase in hate speech and intolerance particularly targeting Roma communities in Bulgaria, Ireland, Montenegro and North Macedonia and Muslims in India. There has also been a rise in xenophobia and racism against communities including the Rohingya in Myanmar and their countries of refuge, those declared foreigners in Assam India, the Urdu speaking ‘Bihari’ community of Bangladesh, Nubians of Kenya, Dominicans of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic and refugees, migrants and stateless people in South Africa. These minority and migrant communities have been vilified in populist political narratives and used as scapegoats for the spread of infection, including to distract from the failings of political leaders. Gender discrimination has also had a significant impact. In Malaysia, for example, where gender discriminatory nationality laws deny Malaysian nationality to children born to Malaysian mothers outside of Malaysia, there has been a sharp increase in the number of children denied access to citizenship because their mother was unable to re-enter Malaysia to give birth. Increased cases of gender-based violence have also been reported, including in Eswatini and Nepal, where particularly in the context of gender discriminatory nationality laws, women are unable to extract themselves from unsafe situations.