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DW.COM in 30 languages DW AKADEMIE ABOUT DW DW.COM Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle ____________________ * TOP STORIES + Germany o Berlin Wall + Coronavirus + World o Europe o Africa # Crime Fighters # The 77 Percent # Africa on the Move o Asia o Americas o Middle East + Business o Founders Valley o Wo+men o My 2030 + Science + Environment o Global Ideas # DoingYourBit o Eco Africa o Living Planet + Culture o Film o Books o Music o Arts o Digital Culture o Lifestyle o Travel o BTHVN2020 + Sports SPECIAL + 100 Must-Reads + 50 kitchens, one city + Baking Bread + DW Freedom + Expedition Humboldt + Gutenberg in the Cyberstorm + Meet the Germans + Planet Berlin * Media Center + Live TV + All media content + Latest Programs + Podcasts * TV + Schedule and Reception + TV Programs TV programs + Arts.21 + Arts and Culture + Business + Check-in + Close up + Conflict Zone + DocFilm + DW News + Eco Africa + Eco India + Euromaxx + Faith Matters + Focus on Europe + Global 3000 + In Good Shape + Kick off! + Made in Germany + Reporter + REV + Shift + Sports Life + The Day + The 77 Percent + Tomorrow Today + To the Point + World Stories * RADIO * LEARN GERMAN German Courses + German Courses + Quick start + Harry + Deutsch Interaktiv + Radio D + Mission Europe + Deutsch - warum nicht? + Audiotrainer + Deutschtrainer + Die Bienenretter German XXL + German XXL + Deutsch Aktuell + Deutsch im Fokus + Telenovela + Bandtagebuch + Landeskunde Community D + Community D + Das Porträt + Podcasts & Newsletter + Service Teaching German + Teaching German + DW im Unterricht + Unterrichtsreihen + Deutschlehrer-Info * Germany * Coronavirus * World * Business * Science * Environment * Culture * Sports TOP STORIES / World / Asia Advertisement Asia Why does Asia have millions of stateless people? Millions of people in Asia are not citizens of any country, and they live without legal rights or protection. Although modern conflicts shape the problem, statelessness is rooted in Asia's colonial past. Rohingya refugees at a camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh In India's northeastern Assam state, almost 2 million people are struggling to have their citizenship recognized. After years of discussion and a highly controversial process, the state government published the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in August. The register lists officially recognized citizens out of the state's population of 31 million . Those not on the list are considered to be "illegal migrants." Any applicant unable to prove that they lived in the state before the March 24, 1971 deadline was considered to have "doubtful" status. The deadline refers to the day before the beginning of the Bangladesh Liberation War, when what was then East Pakistan declared independence from West Pakistan. As a result of the war, an estimated 10 million refugees from the newly formed People's Republic of Bangladesh fled to India. Some of their descendants still live there. Parallels between India and Myanmar Now many of Assam's 2 million "non-citizens" may be deported or held in detention centers. India's Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, who visited Assam on September 8, announced, "The Bharatiya Janata Party government will pick up infiltrators one by one and throw them into the Bay of Bengal." Anuradha Sen Mookerjee, an Indian sociologist and former United Nations staff member, writes in The Conversation, a blog of various universities and research institutions: "It is very likely that the NRC process will cause great and long-lasting suffering associated with statelessness." Read more: India citizenship lists: Nearly 2 million face statelessness Watch video 02:16 Share India builds detention camps Send Facebook Twitter reddit EMail Facebook Messenger Web Whatsapp Web Telegram linkedin Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3Q6rL Millions fear loss of citizenship in India's Assam state The minister's rhetoric and Mookerjee's warning are a reminder of what is happening to the Rohingya people, who are officially called "Bengalis" in Myanmar to emphasize that the country considers them to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The Rohingya are considered to be one of the most persecuted minority groups in the world, and they are de facto stateless. Experts and the UN agree that statelessness exacerbates their precarious situation. Since 2017, the Rohingya have been violently forced from their homes in Myanmar's Rakhine state in what the UN has referred to as "ethnic cleansing." The situation of the Rohingya and the threatened statelessness of almost 2 million people in Assam are a consequence of the eventful history of Asia in the 21st century and the restrictive civil rights in these countries. Read more: Rohingya people in Myanmar: What you need to know The roots of statelessness Before the arrival of European colonialists, the idea of a nation state with people living within clearly defined borders was unknown in Asia. Regional migrations were common, and there were fluid borders between the influential kingdoms and principalities. Although Europeans introduced the idea of the nation state, what are now independent Asian countries were almost all part of European colonial empires. Thus, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar (until 1937) belonged to British colonial India. Read more: 'I left my body there': A displaced Rohingya woman's story There was migration within the British Empire as well, which was not regarded as emigration or immigration because it took place within British India. In fact, the British promoted migration as an important element of their divide-and–rule policy, and as a source of labor for big colonial projects. For example, the development of the Irrawaddy Delta, which made Burma (now Myanmar) a leading rice exporter, resulted from resettling workers from British India. * Bhasan Char, which means floating island in Bengali language, emerged less than 20 years ago in the Bay of Bengal. The island is located 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) away from mainland Bangladesh. The government of the Muslim-majority country plans to relocate some 100,000 Rohingya refugees to this island from overcrowded Cox's Bazar refugee camps. Inside Bangladesh's isolated 'Rohingya island' Far from the mainland Bhasan Char, which means "floating island" in Bengali language, emerged less than 20 years ago in the Bay of Bengal. The island is located 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) away from mainland Bangladesh. The government of the Muslim-majority country plans to relocate some 100,000 Rohingya refugees to this island from overcrowded Cox's Bazar refugee camps. * There is no proper transport for the common people to go to the island. Some people told DW that the roughness of the sea makes it difficult to reach the island on boats during the monsoon season. Inside Bangladesh's isolated 'Rohingya island' No easy transportation There is no proper transport for the common people to go to the island. Some people told DW that the roughness of the sea makes it difficult to reach the island on boats during the monsoon season. * The government has erected a 13-kilometer long and 3-meter high embankment to protect the island from high tide and floods. Still, the outer part of the embankment goes 3 to 4 feet underwater twice a month during high tides, according to the island shopkeepers. Inside Bangladesh's isolated 'Rohingya island' Protected by embankment? The government has erected a 13-kilometer-long and 3-meter-high embankment to protect the island from high tides and floods. Still, the outer part of the embankment goes 3 to 4 feet underwater twice a month during high tides, according to the island's shopkeepers. * The government has built 1,440 single-storey buildings, with 16 rooms in each, to house the Rohingya refugees. At least four members of a family have to live in a small room. 120 four-storey shelter houses are also available, to be used during cyclones. Inside Bangladesh's isolated 'Rohingya island' Identical buildings The government has built 1,440 single-storey buildings, with 16 rooms in each, to house the Rohingya refugees. At least four members of a family have to live in a small room. 120 four-storey shelter houses are also available, to be used during cyclones. * All buildings at Bhasan Char are equipped with solar panels to fulfil its energy demands. A big solar field and two diesel generators for electricity have also been installed. The island has a rainwater harvesting system as well as tube wells to provide drinking water. Inside Bangladesh's isolated 'Rohingya island' Solar power for energy All buildings at Bhasan Char are equipped with solar panels to fulfil their energy demands. A big solar field and two diesel generators for electricity have also been installed. The island has a rainwater harvesting system as well as tube wells to provide drinking water. * The silt island is called a floating island due to its unstable nature. Satellite images detected the island in 2002. Bangladeshi authorities have built a structure with pylons, gravel and sandbags to stop the erosion of the island. Inside Bangladesh's isolated 'Rohingya island' Protection from erosion The silt island is called a "floating island" due to its unstable nature. Satellite images detected the island in 2002. Bangladeshi authorities have built a structure with pylons, gravel and sandbags to stop the erosion of the island. * While some experts say the island is still very fragile and uninhabitable, climate change specialist Ainun Nishat is of the opinion that people can live here if the embankment is heightened to 6.5 to 7 meters. However, he doesn't think that farming is possible on the island. Inside Bangladesh's isolated 'Rohingya island' Is the island uninhabitable? While some experts say the island is still very fragile and uninhabitable, climate change specialist Ainun Nishat is of the opinion that people can live here if the embankment is heightened to 6.5 to 7 meters. However, he doesn't think that farming is possible on the island. * The refugees fear they could die as a result of cyclone if they are forcibly moved to the island. Many of their children could drown in the seas, they say. Inside Bangladesh's isolated 'Rohingya island' Rohingya fear cyclone, drowning The refugees fear they could die as a result of a cyclone if they are forcibly moved to the island. Many of their children could drown in the sea, they say. * While the island is almost ready to host Rohingya refugees, the government has yet to make a decision on transferring them to it. Several sources say the relocation could take place in November. The Bangladeshi government has hinted it might have to force the refugees to go there if no one chooses to leave the Cox's Bazar's refugee settlements. Inside Bangladesh's isolated 'Rohingya island' Will Rohingya move there? While the island is almost ready to host Rohingya refugees, the government has yet to make a decision on transferring them to it. Several sources say the relocation could take place in November. The Bangladeshi government has hinted it might have to force the refugees to go there if no one chooses to leave the Cox's Bazar's refugee settlements. Author: Arafatul Islam, Naomi Conrad Problems with citizenship and naturalization laws After the end of the Second World War, and with the independence of India and Pakistan (East and West) in 1947, an period of migration began in Asia. "The collapse of empires and the drawing of new borders produced countless refugees. They also produced a patchwork of minorities within the new borders," historian Sunil S. Amrith of Harvard University said. Exact figures are not available, but estimates suggest that 10 to 12 million people respectively emigrated to the other side after the partition of Pakistan and India. Arbitrary division of culturally and linguistically related regions throughout Asia also created multi-ethnic and multi-religious states. Read more: Rohingya crisis demonstrates consequences of statelessness Between 1945 and 1950, the new states had to adopt new citizenship laws in the shortest possible time, and they adopted the laws of the colonial powers. This raised problems. First, since independence, most Asian states have a law of descent. Accordingly, a state granted citizenship only to children whose parents (or at least one parent) were citizens of that state. This leads to very long periods of recognition especially when, as in the case of Assam, the deadline lies in the past. Secondly, none of the countries in question offers simplified naturalization. This means that refugees and stateless persons have no chance of changing their status for generations. Legal scholar Olivier Vonk recently wrote in his study Citizenship in Asia: "Asia is probably the only continent where citizenship is most jealously protected" as new nations want to secure their national identity. International law barely recognized Today, the demands of a modern bureaucracy still collide with historical realities. Many millions of people in South and Southeast Asia do not even have the documents necessary to prove citizenship. In colonial times and before that, there were often no birth certificates or these were lost as people fled. The poor and landless often find themselves stateless as land ownership remains the best way of proving This very practical dimension is discussed far too little in India and Myanmar. Read more: Myanmar land ownership law could displace millions of farmers The current political climate in Asia also contributes to millions of stateless people. Still, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar have not signed any of the three UN conventions on the protection of refugees or stateless persons. Watch video 02:24 Share Rohingya repatriation attempt Send Facebook Twitter reddit EMail Facebook Messenger Web Whatsapp Web Telegram linkedin Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3ON5L Renewed attempt to repatriate Rohingya falters DW recommends Myanmar's Rohingya: A history of forced exoduses Around 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh, escaping violence and persecution in their native Myanmar. It's not the first time they have been forced from their homes. (09.09.2017) * Date 26.09.2019 * Author Rodion Ebbighausen * Related Subjects Asia, Rohingya, Migration, Refugees * Keywords Asia, statelessness, Rohingya, migration, refugees * Send us your feedback. * Print Print this page * Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3QGaO Advertisement Facebook Offizielles Logo DW News on Facebook 11.07.2017 Twitter Offizielles Logo Follow @dwnews on Twitter 11.07.2017 * TOP STORIES * Germany * Coronavirus * World * Business * Science * Environment * Culture * Sports * * A - Z Index * MEDIA CENTER * Live TV * All media content * Latest Programs * Podcasts * TV * Schedule and Reception * TV Programs * * RADIO * LEARN GERMAN * German Courses * German XXL * Community D * Teaching German * ABOUT DW * Who we are * Press * GMF * Business & Sales * Advertising * Travel * SERVICE * Reception * Apps & Co. * Newsletters & Co. * FAQ * Contact * * DW AKADEMIE * About us * Media Development * Master's Degree * Traineeship * Training © 2021 Deutsche Welle | Privacy Policy | Legal notice | Contact | Mobile version