Activities of Amjad BASHIR related to 2016/2220(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Statelessness in South and South East Asia (short presentation)
Reports (1)
REPORT on statelessness in South and South East Asia PDF (396 KB) DOC (77 KB)
Amendments (15)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1
Citation 1
– having regard to the provisions of the UN legal instruments in the sphere of human rights, in particularcluding those concerning the right to a nationality, such as the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2
Citation 2
– having regard to other UN instruments on statelessness and the right to a nationality, such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) executive committee’s Conclusion No. 106 on Identification, Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless Persons, endorsed by UN General Assembly resolution 61/137 of 2006,
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3
Citation 3
– having regard to the UNHCR’'s Campaign to End Statelessness by 2024 and the InternationGlobal Campaign to End Gender Discrimination infor Equal Nationality LawRights supported by the UNHCR, UN Women and others, and endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council,
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas a stateless person is defined in the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Person as someone ‘'who is not considered as a national of any State under operation of its law’'; whereas the causes of statelessness can vary, including but not limited to state succession, events surrounding being forced to flee, migration, changes and gaps in nationality laws, expiration of nationality through having lived outside of one’'s country for an extended period of time, gender discriminationarbitrary deprivation or nationality, discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity or other grounds, administrative and bureaucratic hurdles;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas statelessness is a multifaceted problem, including but not limited to problems relating to birth certificates and other civil status documents, as well as other documentproblems relating to property rights, educational achievement and business ownership, political representation and voting participation, access to social security and public services; whereas statelessness may contribute to human trafficking and child abuse;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas The Global Action Plan to End Statelessness: 2014 – 2024 of the UNHCR aims to support governments in resolveing existing major situations of statelessness, prevent new cases of emerging and better identify and protect stateless populations;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas many of the world’s 10 million stateless persons reside in South and Southeast Asia, with the Rohingya of Myanmar being the single largest stateless group in the world, with over 800 0001 million persons under the UNHCR’s statelessness mandate, but large communities of stateless people are also found in Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei and elsewher, Vietnam, the Philippines and elsewhere; whereas some of these groups fall under the UNHCR's statelessness mandate, but other do not and not all countries keep statistics on this issue; whereas South and Southeast Asia have both protracted and unresolved cases, as well as cases where effective progress has been made, at least on paper;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas the hundreds of thousands of so-called ‘Biharis’ found themselves statelwere not treated as citizens of Bangladessh after the Bangladesh War of Independence, when Pakistan refused their repatriation; whereas, however, a number of court rulings since 2003 have restored the Biharis’ right toconfirmed that the Biharis are citizens of Beangali citizenshipladesh; whereas a large number of Biharis still live in extremely precarious conditions in camps andare not fully integrated in Bangladesh society and development programmes and many have not been able to fully exercise their newreconfirmed rights.;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas there are many other stateless groups in South and Southeast Asia; whereas, however, a number of positive developments have taken place in recent years, such as in Indonesia, which reformed its nationality law in 2006 so that citizenship can no longer be lost by Indonesian migrants that spend more than five years abroad if it results in statelessness and removed gender discrimination in the acquisition of nationality, in Cambodia, where birth registration has been made free of charge in the first 30 days after the birth, in Vietnam, which in 2008 granted nationality tofacilitated the naturalisation of anyone who had been a stateless resident living in Vietnam for over 20 years, and in Thailand where following reform to nationality and civil registration laws 23 .000 stateless persons have acquired nationality since 2011;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Is extremely concerned at the situation of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar; is appalled at the reports of massive human rights violations and continued repression, discrimination and non-recognition of the Rohingya as part of Myanmar society, in what looks like a coordinated campaign of ethnic cleansing; stresses that the Rohingya have lived on the territory of Myanmar for many generations and are fully entitled to Myanmarese citizenship, as they have held it in the past, and all the rights and obligations this encompasses; urges the government and authorities of Myanmar to restore Myanmarese citizenship to the Rohingya minority; urges furthermore the immediate opening of Rakhine State for international observers, NGOs and journalists;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Urges the government of Bangladesh to commit to a clear roadmap allowing for the full implementation of the 1997 Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord, thus allowing for the rehabilitation of displaced Jumma people who are currently living in India and stateless;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 1 a (new)
Paragraph 4 – indent 1 a (new)
– supporting ASEAN Sectoral Bodies and SAARC in supporting their respective Member States to further realise the right to a nationality and ending statelessness;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 – indent 4 a (new)
– consistently emphasising that national identity management regimes need to include and provide identity documentation to all persons on the territory, including hard-to-reach and marginalised groups who may be at risk of statelessness or lack a nationality;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 5 a (new)
Paragraph 4 – indent 5 a (new)
– addressing the issue of the content and application of nationality laws and the arbitrary deprivation or denial of the right to a nationality on the grounds of ethnicity, which is a major cause of statelessness in the region;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – indent 11
Paragraph 4 – indent 11
– ensuring follow-up, such as awareness raising and technical support for public administrations, including at local level for when there have been positive developments that need to be implemented in practice, such as in Bangladesh, where the Biharis have been granted the right to citizenship and voting rightsThailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and Bangladesh, where the citizenship of the Biharis, including their voting rights, was restored;