rohingya issue in india upsc
They are not in conflict with the law and have only sought safety after fleeing with their guardians; to treat them otherwise is a case of injustice
Six years since they fled
mass atrocities against the Rohingya
1 August 25 marked six years since the Myanmar military launched a campaign of mass atrocities against the Rohingya in Rakhine State.
2 These genocidal attacks, which began in August 2017, caused more than 7,70,000 Rohingya to flee.
3 At least 20,000 of them are in India. In this particular holding centre in Jammu, which was a prison before, more than 250 Rohingya refugees including women and children have been confined / small there since March 2021.
Most of them have UNHCR cards that validate their identity as ‘a refugee seeking safety’.
There are many troubling questions that arise from the Jammu incident
1 Why are refugees being treated as criminals? Why are they living in a prison-like facility? Why has their movement been restricted?
2 Most troubling is why children are being holed up as prisoners in detention centres.
3 These are children of an extremely vulnerable population that continues to fear ethnic cleansing.
4 Globally, we have responsibility to protect them, help them survive and thrive. Not imprison them, tear gas them and leave them to die.
Detention under the Foreigners Act
India does not have a domestic law or consistent policy on refugees
1 What lets the Indian authorities act in an unaccountable and undeterred way is the fact that India does not have a domestic law or consistent policy on refugees and asylum seekers.
2 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol
It is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.
Foreigners Act, 1946
1 Refugees are seen as illegal immigrants and lumped / एक ही वर्ग में रख देना या मान लेना with other foreigners under the Foreigners Act, 1946
2 The Act provides for unchecked executive powers against foreigners and contains no exceptions for vulnerable populations such as asylum seekers and refugees.
3 This has meant that
despite UNHCR recognition, registered refugees in India are at risk of administrative detention under the Foreigners Act
- such as Section 3(2)(e)),
- criminal imprisonment (Sections 14, 14.A., B., C.), and
- deportation (Section 3(2)(c)).
4 Thus, hundreds of Rohingya refugees have been arbitrarily detained, many languishing / दीन अवस्था में रहना indefinitely in India’s jails and detention centres.
Many of them are children who do not even know of a world outside of the four walls of these places.
Article 6 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
1 states that every child has an inherent right to life, survival and development.
2 India ratified the CRC in December 1992; hence, holding children in detention facilities, denying them the freedom to access education or any other liberty is an absolute violation of this.
3 Constitution of India - The right to life and personal liberty is enshrined in the Constitution of India and is for all persons, whether citizens or foreigners.
Almost 500 Rohingya refugees are detained in various detention centres and jails across India.
1 Many of them are children.
2 In New Delhi, the Sarai Rohilla centre in New Delhi has four to five children who are below the age of five, with most in detention since infancy.
3 They view the outside world, a dusty lane in front of the centre, through the iron rods of a window.
4 They are not permitted to play or be outdoors because of their identity of being a Rohingya refugee.
India’s Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015
While some children are living in the detention centres and jails with their parents, others have been separated and sent to juvenile justice homes under the Juvenile Justice Act.
India’s Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 is for children who are in conflict with the law.
The Rohingya refugee children are not in conflict with the law.
They seek safety after fleeing for their lives. To treat them as anything else is a grave injustice.
Follow guidelines
released immediately from detention
To ensure that no other Rohingya refugee child dies in a detention centre in India
and that refugee children are treated in a manner that upholds their right to life and development;
it is imperative that all Rohingya children and their primary caregivers are released immediately from detention.
For all the other Rohingya and internal guidelines (2011)
the authorities should follow the Government of India’s internal guidelines (2011) on the detention and treatment of refugees,
which states that they should be released from detention within six months subject to collection of biometric details, with conditions of local surety, good behaviour and reporting to the police every month.
the National Human Rights Commission
India should work with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to appoint an ombudsman whose sole responsibility should be to investigate refugee detention centres in India.
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