January 24, 2019
India should ensure protections for Rohingya refugees and not force them out of the country, Fortify Rights said today.
“Indian authorities beat and threatened Rohingya refugees, forcing some to flee to Bangladesh in recent days and weeks,” the rights body said in a statement.
Matthew Smith, chief executive officer at Fortify Rights, said, “India should urgently protect Rohingya genocide survivors seeking safety and not force them out of the country.”
“Refugees should never be imprisoned based on their status as refugees. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government should immediately release detained refugees, provide the United Nations (UN) access to them, and protect all survivors of atrocities,” he said.
According to the statement, Fortify Rights interviewed six Rohingya refugees—including two women—who fled from India to Bangladesh though they were recognised as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in India
“Indian authorities beat and threatened Rohingya refugees, forcing some to flee to Bangladesh in recent days and weeks,” the rights body said in a statement.
Matthew Smith, chief executive officer at Fortify Rights, said, “India should urgently protect Rohingya genocide survivors seeking safety and not force them out of the country.”
“Refugees should never be imprisoned based on their status as refugees. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government should immediately release detained refugees, provide the United Nations (UN) access to them, and protect all survivors of atrocities,” he said.
According to the statement, Fortify Rights interviewed six Rohingya refugees—including two women—who fled from India to Bangladesh though they were recognised as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in India
“Living in India is not safe anymore,” a Rohingya refugee man, 39, recently forced out of India told Fortify Rights. He arrived in Bangladesh from India on January 15 and is now staying at a refugee transit center for new arrivals in Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar.
The refugee explained the situation in India, saying they have to pay bribes, and the authorities threaten to force them back to Myanmar.
“My UNHCR card does not help anymore. The Indian authorities came to my house to try to force me to fill out a form with all my biometric information to send me back to Myanmar. After this I was very fearful. I fled,” the rights body quoted the Rohingya man.
Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) reportedly had forced 31 Rohingya refugees towards Bangladesh this week, and then Bangladesh authorities had blocked the group from entering Bangladesh, trapping them on the India-Bangladesh border in a “no man’s land” area near Brahmanbaria.
Indian authorities subsequently arrested and put them in custody in Tripura.
More than 1,300 Rohingya refugees crossed into Bangladesh from India since May 2018, according to Bangladesh’s Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Abul Kalam. However, the numbers are believed to be much higher.
According to the Indian government, there are an estimated 40,000 Rohingya refugees in India,and estimated 18,000 of them are registered with UNHCR. Many of them escaped mass atrocities in Myanmar since 2012.
Earlier this month, Indian authorities reportedly refouled a Rohingya family of five to Myanmar and, in October 2018, forcibly deported seven Rohingyas to Rakhine though under customary international law, the principle of non-refoulement prohibits states from returning any person on its territory or under its jurisdiction to a country where they may face persecution.
Article 3 of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which India is a party, states: “No State Party shall expel, return (‘refoul’) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he [or she] would be in danger of being subjected to torture.”
UN experts have found that conditions are not conducive for Rohingyas to return to Myanmar. For example, on October 24, 2018, the UN Fact Finding Mission Chair Marzuki Darusman warned that the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who remain in Myanmar still face “an ongoing genocide.”
Fortify Rights urged India and Bangladesh to take coordinated action to address root causes in Myanmar and protect refugees seeking safety.
Matthew Smith said, “Safe returns are inextricably linked to legal accountability for perpetrators of mass atrocities in Myanmar. India should join Bangladesh in working with other UN member states to ensure criminal prosecutions for atrocities committed against Rohingyas in Myanmar.”
The refugee explained the situation in India, saying they have to pay bribes, and the authorities threaten to force them back to Myanmar.
“My UNHCR card does not help anymore. The Indian authorities came to my house to try to force me to fill out a form with all my biometric information to send me back to Myanmar. After this I was very fearful. I fled,” the rights body quoted the Rohingya man.
Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) reportedly had forced 31 Rohingya refugees towards Bangladesh this week, and then Bangladesh authorities had blocked the group from entering Bangladesh, trapping them on the India-Bangladesh border in a “no man’s land” area near Brahmanbaria.
Indian authorities subsequently arrested and put them in custody in Tripura.
More than 1,300 Rohingya refugees crossed into Bangladesh from India since May 2018, according to Bangladesh’s Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Abul Kalam. However, the numbers are believed to be much higher.
According to the Indian government, there are an estimated 40,000 Rohingya refugees in India,and estimated 18,000 of them are registered with UNHCR. Many of them escaped mass atrocities in Myanmar since 2012.
Earlier this month, Indian authorities reportedly refouled a Rohingya family of five to Myanmar and, in October 2018, forcibly deported seven Rohingyas to Rakhine though under customary international law, the principle of non-refoulement prohibits states from returning any person on its territory or under its jurisdiction to a country where they may face persecution.
Article 3 of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which India is a party, states: “No State Party shall expel, return (‘refoul’) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he [or she] would be in danger of being subjected to torture.”
UN experts have found that conditions are not conducive for Rohingyas to return to Myanmar. For example, on October 24, 2018, the UN Fact Finding Mission Chair Marzuki Darusman warned that the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who remain in Myanmar still face “an ongoing genocide.”
Fortify Rights urged India and Bangladesh to take coordinated action to address root causes in Myanmar and protect refugees seeking safety.
Matthew Smith said, “Safe returns are inextricably linked to legal accountability for perpetrators of mass atrocities in Myanmar. India should join Bangladesh in working with other UN member states to ensure criminal prosecutions for atrocities committed against Rohingyas in Myanmar.”
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