ABSTRACT
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 Paldstan 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, comprising Sections 1 and 2, was published in the last issue of the IJRL (Volume 11 Number 4); it provided the background to the present problem, and showed 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 fado stateless refugees. Part 2, comprising Sections 3 and 4, is published below; it 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.
