Law or policy reform enabling automatic acquisition of nationality Bangladesh • Statelessness affecting the Urdu-speaking minority was resolved as a result of sustained community-based advocacy, a successful litigation strategy and lobbying for the implementation of court decisions upholding the Bangladeshi citizenship of this group. • National advocacy was bolstered by increasing pressure from the international community to reduce statelessness among the Urdu-speakers. • UNHCR played an important liaison role between national campaigners, the international community and the Government of Bangladesh. UNHCR’s awarenessraising activities encouraged other UN actors, including the UN Country Team, to work to reduce statelessness among the Urdu-speakers. • A landmark High Court ruling, and a favorable political environment led to the prompt implementation of the court’s decision and the allocation of resources to ensure that Urduspeakers were registered in the voter rolls and received national identification cards. Statelessness among the Urdu-speaking community The Urdu-speaking community of Bangladesh, also known as the “Biharis”, is a linguistic minority that was excluded from the body of citizens upon the creation of the independent State of Bangladesh in 1971. The community comprises individuals who emigrated from India at the time of partition to settle in what was then East Pakistan, as well as their descendants. During Bangladesh’s Liberation War, some Urdu-speakers sided with Pakistan. As a result, Urdu-speakers in Bangladesh faced violence and were forced to convene in camps run by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Whereas some 100,000 Urdu-speakers were repatriated to Pakistan,9 more than 100,000 remained, mostly in the camps, which turned into permanent settlements. The community then entered a cycle of poverty and exclusion from mainstream Bangladeshi society. By 2006, it was estimated that there were 151,000 Urdu-speakers in 116 camps and settlements in Bangladesh, with approximately 100,000 additional Urdu-speakers living outside camps throughout the country. 9 Only a portion of Urdu-speakers who registered to repatriate to Pakistan were eventually repatriated pursuant to tripartite agreements between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in 1973 and 1974. U N H C R > G P P A C T I O N 1 : R E S O LV I N G E X I S T I N G M A J O R S I T U AT I O N S O F S TAT E L E S S N E S S 15