09/06/2007

Refugees International commends the September 5 inter-ministerial decision by the Bangladeshi government which, pending legal review, would grant those Biharis or Urdu-speaking people born after the time of independence in Bangladesh and who wish to become citizens, the right to be registered as voters and to receive national identity cards. Through this measure, almost half of the 200-500,000 stateless Biharis, hosted by Bangladesh for 36 years, may soon find a remedy to their lack of an effective nationality.

RI has been a leading advocate for action by the governments of Bangladesh and Pakistan to end this serious human rights abuse by granting citizenship and/or permitting repatriation for the members of this group. RI’s last mission to Bangladesh was in February 2006, when staff met with government and Bihari leaders to urge timely action. After the visit, U.S. Representative Diane Watson issued a letter to Assistant Secretary Sauerbrey, head of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, to press for resolution. Recently, RI president Kenneth Bacon requested the interim government to consider this group for inclusion in the voter rolls and citizenship.

In pre-independence India, the Biharis were an Urdu-speaking Muslim minority who resided in the Hindu region of Bihar. At the time of partition in 1947, some of them chose to move to East Pakistan and others to West Pakistan. When civil war broke out in 1970, the Biharis sided with West Pakistan. After the war and the independence of Bangladesh, they were unwelcome in either country. Pakistan feared that a mass influx of Biharis would destabilize an already fragile and culturally mixed population, particularly in the Sindh, where most Bihari wished to migrate. Bangladesh scorned them for supporting the enemy. With neither country offering citizenship, the Biharis (also commonly called “Bangladeshi Biharis”, “stranded Pakistanis”, “a linguistic minority,” “Urdu-speaking stranded Pakistanis,” and even just “displaced persons”) have been citizens of nowhere for over three decades.

Biharis exist at the fringes of society, with their most fundamental human rights denied. An estimated 250,000-500,000 Biharis live in camp-like settlements throughout the country. Living conditions are miserable due to high population density, aging accommodations, poor sanitation and hygiene, lack of education and healthcare facilities, and limited access to livelihoods, with most employable individuals consigned to day labor, barbering, or rickshaw pulling. “They live in difficult conditions,” one Bangladesh government official told Refugees International during a 2006 visit. “Hard conditions have created law and social order problems, but they are hard workers.”

In 2003 the Supreme Court of Bangladesh granted citizenship to ten Biharis. It was a small but significant move. The September 5 decision is the next key step to implementing that judgment.

Refugees International encourages Bangladesh to undertake a timely legal review of the matter in order for individuals to truly benefit from the decision and urges rapid development as a strategy to help integrate Biharis who wish to live as citizens. RI hopes that Bangladesh will honor the choice of individuals whether or not to register to vote.

It is also important that Bangladesh and Pakistan work together to offer the possibility of resettlement and citizenship for Biharis who wish to live in Pakistan, particularly those seeking family reunification.

Maureen Lynch is RI’s senior advocate for statelessness initiatives and has led the agency’s advocacy work on the Bihari issue.