Biharis in Bangladesh: Transition from Statelessness to Citizenship

This book deals with the citizenship status of the Biharis in Bangladesh and their ability to access rights associated with citizenship. The main argument of the book is that although legally the Biharis are citizens of Bangladesh, they still do not have access to many important rights of citizenship that can make their citizenship meaningful. Their inability to access many important citizenship rights made them de facto stateless, although they are de-jure citizens. Taking a law and society approach this book examines both legal and non-legal factors behind the deplorable conditions of the Biharis in Bangladesh. Based on fieldwork, this book analyses that the Biharis' inability to access citizenship rights is inconsistent with citizenship theory, citizenship laws, and the Constitution of Bangladesh. To make the Biharis citizenship effective or meaningful the author suggests some recommendations for policy changes that would enable Biharis to access rights associated with citizenship.

Based on empirical data about the lived experiences of the Biharis in Bangladesh Demonstrates that although most Biharis are legally Bangladeshi citizens, they are denied many important rights Offers a significant contribution to the sparse literature on this topic

Autorentext
Zaglul Haider is a professor of Political Science at the University of Rajshahi. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Clark Atlanta University and an LLM from Osgoode Hall Law School.

Inhalt

Chapter One: Introduction.- Chapter Two: Theoretical and Legal Framework.- Chapter Three: Biharis in Bangladesh.- Chapter Four: Findings of the Field Work.- Chapter Five: Biharis' Access to Citizenship Rights: Theory, Law, and Reality.- Chapter Six: Conclusions and Recommendations.