Two women in India’s Kerala remain effectively stateless as they have been unable to secure Indian citizenship after failing to obtain renunciation certificates from Pakistan, according to reports.

The sisters told a court they have lived in Kerala since 2008. In 2017, they submitted their passports to the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi.

But as both were under 21, the minimum age for renouncing Pakistani nationality, the commission accepted their applications without issuing the certificates.

BBC said in its report that attempts to contact the Pakistan High Commission in India for comment received no response.

Neighbours India and Pakistan share a tense relationship which has often spilled over into hostility, like in May this year, when the countries engaged in a four-day military conflict.

But migration is not uncommon, especially among members of families who ended up on different sides of the border when India was partitioned and Pakistan was created in 1947.

In recent decades, stricter documentation checks have complicated immigration processes.

According to Indian parliamentary data from December 2021, over 7,000 Pakistanis await citizenship decisions in India.

The sisters’ mother, Rashida Banu, said she requested the return of their passports after Pakistan refused to issue renunciation papers, but the documents were not handed back.

In 2018, the Pakistan High Commission issued them a certificate confirming their passports had been deposited and that Islamabad would not object if India granted them citizenship.

But New Delhi rejected the certificate and insisted on formal renunciation papers.

The sisters then turned to Kerala High Court. A single-judge bench ruled in their favour last year. But on Aug 23 this year, a division bench overturned that decision, holding that only India’s recognition counts for citizenship and a clear legal process must be followed.

The ruling leaves the sisters with the option of appealing to a higher court. Under Pakistani law, those under 21 cannot renounce citizenship independently, though a father’s application could include dependents’ names.

The BBC report said the family history is complex. Their father, Mohammed Maroof, was born in Kerala but moved to Pakistan in 1977 with his grandmother.

Their mother Rashida was born in Pakistan after her parents -- originally Indian -- were trapped there during the 1971 Bangladesh war.

In 2008, Rashida and Maroof brought their four children to India on long-term visas.

Maroof later returned to Pakistan, while Rashida and her son, both over 21, secured Indian citizenship. The daughters remain without status.

Without citizenship, the sisters face restrictions in daily life, including buying mobile phone SIMs and school enrolment. They have Aadhaar cards, but those do not prove nationality.

The absence of passports has created personal hardships. One sister’s husband had to give up his job abroad to return to India, while the other’s son is unable to travel overseas for medical treatment.

"The sisters didn't get the certificate in 2017 because they were then minors. Now that they are adults, they can't go back to Pakistan because they have surrendered their passports. So how will they get the certificate?" says their lawyer M Sasindran.

"They are stuck now," he added.