ABSTRACT
The introductory chapter describes the historical background of the emergence of the Rohingya people as the persecuted minority in Myanmar, their exclusion from citizenship and their current status as a de facto stateless population group. While introducing the chapters the introduction also points out that despite quite a number of global initiatives taken so far, new risks of statelessness have emerged. Moreover, low levels of ratification of the UN statelessness conventions raise questions about their impact and continued relevance. The Rohingya were and are being chased out of Myanmar. They were chased out of Bangladesh. Some of them reached India in phases. The UNHCR identity cards given to the registered Rohingya refugees are often not recognized as they are not issued by the government. Now, the Government of India tells them that India is not their country, and they would be identified and sent back. Where will they go? Most of them do not know about laws. Every country is kicking them around. From one country to another, people are playing with them. In reality they are being pushed to the ‘oblivion of rightlessness’.
