NEPAL: Undocumented residents excluded from state services

KATHMANDU, 17 May 2012 (IRIN) - Some 7 percent of Nepal’s almost 27 million people may lack citizenship documents, excluding them from government-funded services.

“This is the central document of existence in Nepal,” said Hari Phuyal, a human rights lawyer in the capital, Kathmandu. “The denial of a citizenship certificate means the denial of access to the state, which means these people are stateless.”

Not having citizenship documents means being blocked from government jobs and pensions, driver’s licenses and passports, as well as government-run programmes like secondary school exams and health services. Bank accounts, land inheritance and the right to vote are also out of reach.