Indian authorities have expelled scores of ethnic Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh and Myanmar since May without providing rights protections, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday, accusing officials of arbitrary detention, mistreatment, and violations of international law.
According to HRW, the campaign launched across several states governed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has targeted Rohingya and Bengali-speaking Muslims labelled as “illegal immigrants.” At least 192 registered Rohingya refugees were expelled to Bangladesh, while 40 others were forced off an Indian naval vessel near the Myanmar coast and compelled to swim ashore. Dozens more fled India, fearing detention.
“The Indian government’s expulsion of Rohingya refugees shows an utter disregard for human life and international law,” said Elaine Pearson, HRW’s Asia director. “These refugees fled atrocities in Myanmar only to face demonisation and abuse in India.”
HRW researchers interviewed nine Rohingya men and women in the Cox’s Bazar camps in Bangladesh who had recently arrived from India. Six of those expelled in May alleged that Indian authorities assaulted them and confiscated their money, mobile phones, and UNHCR registration cards. The other three said they fled from Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, and Delhi after police threatened them with arbitrary detention.
One woman expelled with her husband and three children from Assam in May reported that Border Security Force officers slapped her husband so hard he lost hearing in one ear. Another man alleged that police in Tripura beat his 4-year-old daughter and seized 20,000 rupees before forcing his family across the border into Bangladesh.
A group of 40 Rohingya Muslims and Christians described being flown from Delhi to the Andaman Islands, where naval officers allegedly beat them aboard a ship before ordering them into the sea near Myanmar’s Tanintharyi region. “We were treated like the worst criminals,” one survivor told relatives.
India is home to an estimated 40,000 Rohingya refugees, roughly half of whom are registered with the United Nations refugee agency. Although New Delhi is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it remains bound by the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning people to countries where they face persecution.
The expulsions have left many Rohingya still in India fearful and vulnerable. In Jammu, officials reportedly vandalised shelters and arrested at least 30 refugees in May. Some who fled said police ignored their UNHCR documents and accused them of being “Bengalis.”
India’s Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case in September on whether Rohingya should be recognised as refugees or treated as “illegal entrants.” In May, the court refused to halt deportations and dismissed reports of refugees being abandoned at sea as a “beautifully crafted story.”
HRW has urged Indian authorities to immediately end the expulsions, investigate allegations of abuse, and recognise Rohingya as refugees entitled to protection.