Since then, most of them (estimated between 250,000 and 500,000) have been living on the fringes of Bangladeshi society, with no right to participate in the country's political decision-making bodies, because they had sided with the West Pakistan (today's Pakistan) military operation against the natives in 1970.

"We commend this decision," said a spokesperson for the U.S.-based Refugees International, an independent humanitarian organization that has been a leading advocate for actions by the governments of Bangladesh and Pakistan to end human rights abuses of Biharis.

The group, which is considered highly influential in shaping U.S. policy on refugees, sent its last mission to Bangladesh in February 2006, urging both the government and Bihari leaders to take timely action. Soon after that the U.S. government also started building pressure on Dhaka to take appropriate steps.

In pre-independence India, many among the Bihari Muslim minority not only moved to present-day Bangladesh, but also to the Pakistani province of Sindh. After the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war that resulted in the formation of Bangladesh, they were unwelcome in either country for a long time.

In welcoming the Bangladeshi government's recent decision, Refugees International's Maureen Lynch said it is important that Pakistan and Bangladesh both work together to offer the possibility of resettlement.

In a statement, she urged the Bangladesh authorities to undertake "a timely legal review of the matter" so that Bihari people could benefit from the recent decision on citizenship and voting rights.

According to Refugees International, most Biharis in Bangladesh live in camp-like settlements, with no access to health care, education, or appropriate sanitation facilities.

UN refugee agency (UNHCR) officials who have visited Bangladesh have also made similar observations. "The refugees in the camps are living in a very deplorable situation," UNHCR representative Pia Prytz Phiri told reporters during her visit to Bangladesh in March.

UNHCR has repeatedly urged the Bangladeshi government to let Biharis move and work freely in accordance with the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees, which lays out a legal framework and certain rights for refugee populations.

But the problem of statelessness is not merely confined to Bangladesh. According to Refugees International's researchers, there are more than 11 million people in the world who have no country to call home.