the Bihari Community in Bangladesh 669 Living conditions are unhygienic due to dirty and inadequate sources of drinking water and poor sanitary systems, which spread contagious waterborne diseases. According to Article 25(1) of the udhr, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family”, but the Bihari community has been deprived of such a standard of living in Bangladesh. Living in the camps makes the residents vulnerable and the group fragile since there is no security.34 Not only are they denied positions in government, but since their residential address is a refugee camp and their status is undefined, wider discrimination in the job market remains a prime concern.35 Refugee International has noted that it will need dedicated action from the Bangladesh Government and the international community for the Bihari community to gain proper access to the job market.36 Although they are a stateless community in Bangladesh, many scholars consider them as having been de facto stateless since 1971. The 1982 Geneva Conference referred to them as non-Bangladeshi or stranded Pakistani in Bangladesh, who expressed their strong desire to be repatriated to Pakistan as their country of origin.37 3 Tripartite Agreement between Bangladesh, India and Pakistan 3.1 Simla Agreement The Simla Agreement, signed in Simla, India, by Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Pakistani President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto on 2 July 1972, was much more than a peace treaty seeking to reverse the consequences of the 1971 war.38 It was an agreement to settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations. The agreement also paved the way for the diplomatic recognition of Bangladesh by Pakistan and to withdrawal of troops and an exchange of prisoners of war (PoWs).39 It created the opportunity for 34 35 36 37 38 39 Zahed, supra note 2. The Biharis are mainly located in largely urban areas in the Dhaka, Rajshahi, Khulna and Chittagong divisions of Bangladesh. Most of the settlements are established on public land. Refugee Review Tribunal in Australia, 7 July 2009, Research Response on Bangladesh, <www.refworld.org/pdfid/4f40e6c42.pdf>, visited on 8 June 2017. Shahnawaz A. Mantoo, ‘Bihari Refugees Stranded in Bangladesh since in 1971’, 1 Journal of South Asian Studies (2013) p. 126. Simla Agreement, The Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India, <mea.gov.in/in-focus -article.htm?19005/Simla+Agreement+July+2+1972>, visited on 12 June 2017. Ibid. international journal on minority and group rights 25 (2018) 664-678 This content downloaded from 147.188.245.205 on Wed, 25 Oct 2023 15:43:57 +00:00 All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms <UN>