SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: SOUTH ASIA in border regions (including the Chakma, Hjong and Kutchi communities) and former Kashmiri militants.247 Ethnic minority groups in Nepal include Dalit and Madheshi communities, who face issues of accessing citizenship and identity documents, are also at risk of statelessness.248 Undetermined Nationalities In 2019 India’s National Register of Citizens in Assam excluded over 1.9 million Assamese, leaving them labelled as foreigners or ‘D voters’ and the validation of their citizenship at the hands of the foreigners’ tribunals.249 As of December 2021, 143,466 persons were declared foreigners by the foreigners’ tribunals and 121,598 persons were declared as Indian citizens. Another 123,829 cases remain pending before the tribunals.250 UNHCR has noted that “various studies estimate that a large number of individuals lack citizenship certificates in Nepal. While these individuals are not necessarily stateless, UNHCR has been working closely with the Government of Nepal and partners to address this situation.”251 In 2016 the Forum for Women, Law and Development projected that by 2021 as many as 6.7 million people would be without citizenship certificates.252 In Pakistan, Ethnic Bihari communities also hold an uncertain status with limited information available on their citizenship status. The FIGURE 13 SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: SOUTH ASIA community largely comprises of persons repatriated to Pakistan following Bangladeshi independence (and their descendants), some of whom hold passports and documentation, yet continue to face discrimination and exclusion.253 2017.254 Most of the more than 900,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh reside within refugee camps in Cox’s Bazaar, and face limited access to health and social services, education and living in conditions that have been condemned by residents, international organisations and NGOs.255 Stateless Refugees The true scale of the Rohingya refugee population in South Asia is estimated to be thousands higher than reported figures. Human Rights Watch has estimated that Rohingyas registered with UNHCR in India (20,154) represent half of the total population of 40,000 Rohingya refugees in the country.256 A recent statement by a spokesperson for the Pakistani Foreign Office suggested that as many as 400,000 Rohingya refugees may be in Pakistan (compared to the reported 47).257 The entire reported stateless population in South Asia are stateless refugees. While UNHCR has noted that the reported stateless refugee populations in India (20,154) and Nepal (465) are Rohingya refugees, this is not explicitly stated for the other countries in the sub-region. There has been an extensive focus on Rohingya in Bangladesh by UN bodies, academics and NGOs, specifically since the mass displacement which occurred in FIGURE 14 Other groups of refugees affected by statelessness include as many as 73,404 Tibetan refugees and more than 92,000 Sri Lankan refugees in India.258 6,365 Bhutanese Lhostshampa refugees are in Nepal, many of whom are stateless.259 Reported Stateless and Stateless Refugee Population in South Asia Reported Stateless Population Other Populations of Note Reported Stateless Refugees 1500000 1200000 900000 National Register of Citizens- India 600000 INRC Assam excluded over 1.9 million Assamese, leaving them labelled as foreigners or ‘D voters’ and the validation of their citizenship Foreigners 300000 143,466 Times of India (Feb 2022) Srilanka Pakistan Nepal Maldives 123,829 India Pending Bhutan 121,598 Bangladesh Indian citizens Afghanistan 0 It is important to note two population groups within South Asia who have had their stateless status ‘solved’ in recent decades yet continue to face discrimination and social exclusion. The Urdu-speaking (Bihari) community have resided in Bangladesh since independence,260 yet were only recognised as citizens from the early 2000s. Despite the recognition, the 300,000 people of the Urdu-speaking community continue to face discrimination and marginalisation through the denial of passports, physical isolation in refugeelike camps and denial of services.261 The granting of citizenship to the ‘Hill Country’ (or ‘Up-Country’) Tamil population in Sri Lanka in 2003, who had been deprived of citizenship since 1948, has both been held up as a success story of ‘solving’ statelessness and analysed for the continuing discrimination faced by the population group despite their citizenship status being resolved.262 The Urdu-speaking (Bihari) community have resided in Bangladesh since independence, yet were only recognised as citizens from the early 2000s. Despite the recognition, the 300,000 people of the Urdu-speaking community continue to face discrimination and marginalisation through the denial of passports, physical isolation in refugee-like camps and denial of services. Availability of data Underreporting is present in all states in the South Asia sub-region, where Afghanistan, Bhutan, and the Maldives, reported no stateless populations and all other states in the sub-region did not report numbers for in situ stateless populations. UNHCR recognizes this underreporting and notes the specific known populations in all states in the subregion apart from the Maldives that are missing from their reported figures.263 Further, the only reported stateless population is categorized as stateless refugees, which excludes other existing stateless populations in the sub-region. Even among this group underreporting is present with the true scale of the Rohingya population across the sub-region estimated to be much higher than reported figures. Causes of statelessness Discriminatory laws Restrictions on the basis of ethnicity As outlined in the Southeast Asia chapters, the statelessness of the Rohingya community present across the South Asia sub-region is largely caused by ethnic discrimination embedded in the citizenship laws of Myanmar.264 Ethnic minority groups including the Mosuli and Jogi (or ‘Magat’) communities who have lived semi-nomadic 48 49 STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC REPORT 2023