Consequences of Lack of Identification: Link between legal identity, birth registration and the risk of statelessness

 Unregistered children in particular can be at risk of sexual exploitation, trafficking and being treated as adults in the justice system, as there is no proof of legal age.  Birth registration protects children from recruitment into armed groups by providing proof of their age and identity, and to prosecute abductors by legally establishing a child’s age at the time of recruitment Why Aadhar Card?  Aadhar Card can be used as proof of identity, proof of address as well as proof of age when applying for any government service across India.  One of the most important uses of Aadhar card is that it permits the holder to avail of all government subsidies he/she is eligible for. Since the government already has all the necessary data on a particular individual, they need only produce their Aadhar card in order to avail of the various subsidies or programmes.  Aadhar Card helps to get mobile connection, gas connection, opening a bank account, accessing scholarships/ monthly pensions etc,  Aadhar card act as identity during train travels.  The Jan Dhan Yojna accepts your Aadhar Card Number as the only document for the opening of a bank account.  Individuals who wish to obtain a passport can apply for the same online by simply attaching their Aadhar Card as the only residence and identity proof along with their application.

Why Community/Caste certificates?

 Community or Caste certificates act as proof of one’s belonging to a particular caste (reserved categories) as specified in the Indian Constitution  Caste certificate provides reservation quota in the government jobs as well as job promotions in the State Government for those who belong to Scheduled

Castes/Tribes or Other Backward Classes.  Caster certificates can also be used for reservation of seats in the Legislatures and in the Government Service, waiving of a part or the whole of the fees for admission to schools and colleges, quotas in educational institutions, preferred admissions in government-run hostels; relaxation of upper age limits for applying to certain jobs, etc.  Apart from these uses, it also helps the holder get the various kinds of schemes from the Central Government, State Government and NGO’s. For example, scholarship schemes, fee reimbursement schemes, waive off in certain schemes etc.

Why domicile/nativity/ residential certificates?

 Domicile certificate is required to apply for resident reservation quota in the

Government sector.  Domicile certificate is used to obtain admissions in educational institutions.  Domicile certificate is an important document to claim for a ration card.  The Domicile Certificate is used for many other purposes by the public such as applying for Passport, Visa etc.  The Domicile Certificate use as proof of your permanent residency.  The Government Service, as also in the case of jobs where residents are preferred.

Lack of identification can make people more vulnerable to trafficking, for example by making it more difficult to prove a person’s age or family relationships. Those who lack identity documents may face greater difficulties proving their entitlement to nationality or to refugee status discrimination (June 2016, Bronwen Manby). The World Bank has an estimate of around 1.5 billion people worldwide lacking official identification.1 UNHCR states that the number of stateless persons is “at least 10 million,” of whom 3.5 million are in countries with at least some reasonable data on the number.2 Though the importance of identification depends on national context of a country and the degree to which identity documents in a country are pre-requisite for access to services and exercise of rights, yet lack of identification affects particularly poor families, migrant families and their children who travels to cities in search of livelihood. Firstly, lack of identity documents including proof of nationality for people, especially poor, migrants and their children make it difficult or impossible to access basic services such as health care, education for children, and social benefits or obtain legal employment. Secondly, lack of documents and nationality lead to problems in registering birth, death or marriage. Thirdly, lack of documents reduces protection of human rights because with identity documents people would be subjected to harassment, labour exploitation and trafficking. Fourthly, from the point of view of Government managing forcibly displaced populations, a rapid and unmanaged influx of undocumented people has implications for security, crime prevention and detection, the provision of public services, and the economy of a country.3 A study (June 2016, Bronwen Manby) suggest that forced displacement is itself both a cause and consequence of lack of identification, and the proportion of forcibly displaced persons who are undocumented may be significant in some contexts. That means, documents can be lost or destroyed as a result of the conflict or disaster that force people to flee their homes or migrate to other cities. On the other hand, lack of identification documents may even be the proximate cause of displacement because undocumented migrants are at risk of expulsion by governments even if they are entitled to nationality there, or have no meaningful connection or documentation in any other country (June 2016, Bronwen Manby). Forced displacement Lack of ID Lack of ID Forced displacement - Documents are lost or left - Documents destroyed by traffickers or labour employers - Lack of official identification creates grounds of illegal presence

1 World Bank, Identification for Development Strategic Framework, January 2016. 2 UNHCR, Global Action Plan to End Statelessness 2014–24, November 2014. 3 Bronwen M, Identification in the context of forced displacement