South Asia State of Minorities Report 2019 vulnerabilities and challenges faced by several groups such as the Urdu-speaking minorities (‘Biharis’), Dalits and Rohingyas in the country. The chapter looks at the available literature and examines the existing legislative and administrative measures with regard to these three groups. Biharis are a linguistic minority of Urdu-speaking persons and their descendants who emigrated from India during and after the partition of the subcontinent in 1947 to what was then known as East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), and who are citizens of Bangladesh in accordance with the relevant national laws. The Supreme Court and the High Court of Bangladesh have affirmed that all members of the Urdu-speaking community were nationals of Bangladesh in accordance with its laws. However, due to the provisions in the Citizenship Bill of 2016, which envisage the revocation of citizenship as a result of the actions or identities of someone’s parents, if adopted, many Biharis could see their citizenship rights being repealed. There has been a lack of political will to recognise the existence of Dalits in Bangladesh as seen by the fact that the caste was not included in the 2011 Census. A majority of Dalits lack access to education, health care and other basic amenities, employment, the right to own property or land and are excluded from political power or influence. They are also denied access to hotel and restaurants, hairdressers, temples, public places, vehicles, trading, etc. The Constitution of Bangladesh does not have an antidiscrimination act, and despite attempts from human rights groups, the government has shown no inclination to introduce such acts. Furthermore, Dalit settlements are subjected to ad hoc evictions and resettlements, as cities continue to expand. Only those Rohingya refugees living in the official UNHCR camps have secured official recognition through photo ID cards issued to all refugees above the age of five. Though these cards do not grant immunity from arrest or provide the right to freedom of movement, refugees in possession of a card stand a better chance of being released and/or granted bail once arrested. There are between 200,000 and 500,000 unregistered Rohingya in Bangladesh who do not have any legal status and are categorised as ‘illegal foreigners’. For the unregistered stateless Rohingya, there is no xxxvi

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