A crackdown in India on suspected illegal immigrants could leave millions stateless

More than 30 million people in Assam have undergone a citizenship test that has proved impossible for many to navigate, particularly the poor and uneducated, human rights groups say.

by Niha Masih @ WashingtonPost.com, Aug. 26

GUWAHATI, India —  In less than a week, millions of people in India will find out whether they remain citizens of the country, with the culmination of a byzantine process that critics say could be the world’s largest exercise in forced statelessness.

Over the past four years, a state in northeastern India has subjected its 31 million residents to an exacting citizenship test aimed at identifying immigrants in the country illegally, primarily from neighboring Bangladesh. People had to produce ancestral documents dating back decades and prove links to their parents.

No one knows what will happen to the millions who are left off the final list, known as the National Register of Citizens, which is expected to be published on Saturday. It is known that authorities are setting up detention centers and tribunals, sparking fears of arrest, incarceration or deportation. Families worry about being separated or becoming disenfranchised, unable to vote or access public service [....]