1999/10/20 by Sumit Sen · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography #Bangladesh Politics, Society, and Development #Migration, Refugees, and Integration #Refugee #Persecution #Stateless protocol #Forced migration #Internally displaced person #Political science #Context (archaeology) #Nationality #Statelessness #Law #Entitlement (fair division) #Population #Refugee law #International law #Development economics #Politics #Geography #Sociology #Immigration #State (computer science) #Economics #Demography
paper · doi:10.1093/ijrl/11.4.625
openalex publication_date 1999/10/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
This article examines the situation of stateless refugees in international law, in the context of the forced population displacement of the Bihari refugees of Pakistan in Bangladesh. The partition of India and the subsequent creation of Pakistan in 1947 led to the displacement of the Biharis, and with the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, the Biharis were forced to flee a second time. However, their international legal status as refugees has seldom been recognized in international law. Part 1 of this article, which is published below, provides the background to the present problem, and shows that the Biharis» claim to Convention refugee status is well-founded, on the basis of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of nationality and political opinion, even and despite the succession of Bangladesh from Pakistan and the subsequent denationalization of Biharis by Pakistan which made them de facto stateless refugees. Part 2, which will be published in the next issue of the I JRL (Volume 12 Number 1), examines the nationality entitlement of the Bihari refugees» and considers their right to return to Pakistan, their country of nationality, as a central factor in any legal solution for them, based on the right to return in international law.