The Right to Citizenship of Rohingya Children of Bangladeshi Descent Under International Human Rights Law

Abstract

Since the outbreak of violence and persecution against Rohingyas in 2017 they have been fleeing Myanmar and taking refuge in Bangladesh. A significant number of them are married to a Bangladeshi citizen and their children are entitled to Bangladeshi citizenship by descent. However, these Rohingya children are not being registered as Bangladeshi citizen. As a result, a significant number of Rohingya children have become stateless. As Bangladesh is not a party to the statelessness conventions statelessness of these Rohingya children cannot be legally addressed under these conventions. This article explores the citizenship rights of these Rohingya children outside of these conventions. It argues that, although Bangladesh is not a party to the statelessness conventions it is a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and other international human rights treaties under which it is obliged to grant citizenship status to the Rohingya children born to a Bangladeshi parent.