Our hearts beat for US deportees but turn against Rohingyas entering India. That’s hypocrisy

The Print
Karanjeet Kaur
11 February, 2025 

This public sympathy, unprecedented for “illegal” migrants, stems from the knowledge that in a different reality, the deportees’ gamble might have been our own.

Refugees standing in a queue at a refugee camp | Commons

The sight of dozens of crestfallen Indians exiting the ramp of the US military plane that landed in Amritsar last week, cast a pall of gloom over the news cycle. But for me, the defining image of India’s deportation crisis isn’t the 104 Indians bound and handcuffed by US officials—it’s the Punjabi politicians who voluntarily appeared in chains outside Parliament. 

A Lifetime in Detention: Rohingya Refugees in India

Refugees International
By Daniel P. Sullivan , Priyali Sur , Ankita Dan |
December 16, 2024

The Rohingya people of Myanmar are the world’s largest stateless population, estimated at some 2.8 million people. Denied citizenship and subject to decades of persecution by the military authorities in their home country, most of the Rohingya population was forced by genocidal violence to flee and is now spread across several countries. While the conditions of Rohingya refugees in countries like Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia are widely documented, less attention is given to the approximately 22,500 Rohingya refugees registered with the UN Refugees Agency (UNHCR) who have fled to India. Even less attention is given to the hundreds of Rohingya who are arbitrarily and indefinitely detained in India and the fact that the broader population remains in constant risk of detention or even deportation back to Myanmar themselves.

2 Rohingya people detained in Tripura’s Gomati district while trying to exfiltrate into Bangladesh

The Indian EXPRESS
Written by Debraj Deb
Agartala | Updated: November 2, 2024

While searching them, the BSF recovered Indian currency, mobile and United Nations High Commission for Refugees card from their possession.

They were detained by the BSF based on secret information regarding movement of people of Rohingya origins in the Karbook area. (Representational photo)

Two people of Rohingya origins were detained at the Karbook bus stand in Tripura’s Gomati district on Friday while they were planning to exfiltrate to Bangladesh, officials said on Friday.

2 women among 5 Rohingya persons held in Tripura, police say they wanted to move to Hyderabad in search of jobs

THE INDIAN EXPRESS
Written by Debraj Deb
Agartala | Updated: July 10, 2024

In the last few weeks, a large number of Bangladeshi and Rohingya persons were arrested at the Agartala Railway Station and different parts of Tripura for illegally entering the state.

On July 5, 25 Rohingya persons were held in North Tripura district while they were trying to leave for Hyderabad in search of jobs. File photo

Barely five days after 25 Rohingya persons were held in Tripura, five others of Rohingya origin, including two women, were arrested from Agartala Railway Station on Tuesday night.

Rohingya Camps Turn Into Hub Of Global Terrorism; Pose Big Security Threat To India, B’Desh: OPED

The Eur Asia
Guest Author
June 3, 2024

OPED By: Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury

Officials of law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh have been consistently saying radical Islamic militancy outfit Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) is involved in murders, and members of this outfit regularly enter Bangladesh from Myanmar and commit a series of crimes while they also run drug peddling, arms trafficking, human trafficking, and kidnapping.

Recently, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters that Rohingya camps in Bangladesh may become the hub of international terrorists. He said, “There may be an influx of arms. Many things can happen. And we already see some signs of these”.

UK-based group urges ICC to probe forcible removal of Rohingya refugees from India to Bangladesh

martoob media
Maktoob Staff
May 29, 2024

            Rohingya children in India’s Haryana refugee camp. Photo: Irfan Hadi K

 

Guernica 37 Chambers, an international not-for-profit organization, has filed a submission to the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the forcible removal of Rohingya refugees from India to Bangladesh.

Tripura woman arrested for cross-border trafficking of Bangladeshis, Rohingya

The Indian EXPRESS
Written by Debraj Deb
Agartala (tripura) | April 2, 2024  

Government Railway Police officer in-charge at Agartala railway station Tapas Das said Parul Akhter of Matinagar is being interrogated to determine if others are involved in the trafficking operations.

A Tripura-based woman was arrested for allegedly assisting Bangladeshi citizens and Rohingya to cross the international border. (Representational Image)

A joint team of security forces on Tuesday arrested a woman allegedly involved in cross-border trafficking of Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingya, from Matinagar in Sepahijala district along the Indo-Bangla international border.

India says new law saves persecuted refugees. Rohingya ask ‘Why not us?’

Aljazeera
By Gurvinder Singh
Published On 27 Mar 2024

 As New Delhi claims to help persecuted minorities in South Asia through the law, the mainly Muslim refugees from Myanmar face deportation.

Rohingya live in India under constant threat of crackdown and deportation [Handout via Al Jazeera]

Kolkata, India – Muhammad Hamin has been unable to sleep at night since March 8 when the government of the northeast Indian state of Manipur ordered the deportation of Rohingya refugees.

Illegal Rohingyas have no fundamental right to reside in India, asserts govt in SC

THE ECONOMIC TIMES
Mar 20, 2024,

 

The Union government has made a significant statement regarding the status of illegal Rohingya Muslim migrants in the country. In a submission to the Supreme Court, the government asserted that these migrants do not possess a fundamental right to reside and settle in India. It emphasized that the judiciary should not encroach upon the legislative and policy domains of the Parliament and executive to create a separate category for granting refugee status to such individuals. 

Where is India Heading to?

COUNTER CURRENTS.ORG
by Habib Siddiqui
24/02/2024

India is going through a phenomenal transformation politically, socially, and religiously. It is exciting. But it is also scary and quite different than the popular image of a Nehru-Gandhi’s India.

Rohingya refugees move court over ‘hate campaigns’ on Facebook, flag high risk in poll year

The Hindu
Soibam Rocky Singh, New Delhi
January 29, 2024

The petition was filed by Mohammad Hamim and Kawsar Mohammed, residing in the national capital for the past two to five years, seeking protection of the right to life of the members of their community in Delhi and other parts of the country.

A Rohingya refugee camp in Kalindi Kunj, New Delhi. | Photo Credit: Soibam Rocky Singh 

 

A recent public interest litigation (PIL) plea filed by two Rohingya refugees before the Delhi High Court has flagged “hate campaigns” on the social media platform, Facebook, referring to members of the community as “terrorists” and “infiltrators”, and exaggerating the number of Rohingya who fled ethnic violence in Myanmar and sought refuge in India.

The Toll Of Refugee Life On Rohingya Mental Health

IndiaSpend
ByShreehari Paliath
19 Jan, 2024

Experts say not all refugees have the language to connect their experiences with trauma. They need host community support, services and networks to support themselves and access mental health and psychosocial support.

Bengaluru, Delhi, Nuh (Haryana): Haris* has not yet turned 18, but feels much older. On most days of the week, after the sun sets until midnight, he picks waste along the traffic-logged roads of Bengaluru, often accompanied by his mother, Farha*.

Rohingya refugees fled Myanmar persecution, only to find India is no different: ‘we’re living terrible lives’

SCMP
Kamran YousufandDurdana Bhat
Published: 5 Dec, 2023

• More than 270 Rohingya Muslims have been detained indefinitely by Indian authorities in Jammu since March 2021, despite holding official refugee status
• The prolonged detentions have left many families shattered, as refugees decry the lack of official assistance and do not know whether those detained are still alive 
  

Mukhtayar Ahmad with his children in his rented makeshift shanty in the Narwal area of Jammu. Photo: Kamran Yousuf

 

Muktayar Ahmad and his family made the harrowing journey from Myanmar to the makeshift shanties of India’s Jammu 13 years ago, but their struggle is far from over. His family is just one of many among the city’s community of Rohingya refugees who have been torn apart by indefinite detentions by Indian authorities.

Rohingya’s Infiltration As A Threat To India – OpEd

eurasia review
Nava Thakuria
November 14, 2023

Rohingya refugees. Photo Credit: Tasnim News Agency

Perceiving the threat of illegal Bangladeshi migrants for decades, the people of Assam (also India) have come to realise another important matter of concern and that is from the inherent influx of Rohingya people. Currently taking shelter in south Bangladesh after fleeing from Myanmar six years back, the Muslim Rohingyas are leaving their camps to various countries namely Indonesia, Malaysia and India. On many occasions, the traffickers have taken advantage of the situation to send those stateless people through West Bengal and Tripura, which have a proximity of Bengali language.

30 Months of Myanmar Military Coup A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYTICAL REPORT ON INDIA'S APPROACH AND RELATIONS WITH MYANMAR

G20 Summit and India’s Treatment of Rohingya

Refugee International
By Daniel P. Sullivan
September 8, 2023

Statement from Refugees International Director for Africa, Asia, and the Middle East Daniel P. Sullivan:

“As India hosts the world’s most powerful leaders for this year’s G20 Summit, those leaders should ask what India has done to address a genocide in its own neighborhood.

Rohingya crisis may destabilise the region

Bangladesh Post
By Diplomatic Correspondent
Published : 02 Sep 2023 

Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dr. A K Abdul Momen said that Rohingya crisis has the potential to destabilize the whole region unless the international community intensifies their efforts to eventuate the sustainable repatriation of the 1.2 million forcibly displaced Rohingyas, temporarily sheltered in Bangladesh, to their homeland Myanmar.

Rohingya refugees fled Myanmar only to ‘live in fear’ in India

Aljazeera
By Vipul Kumar
Published On 17 Aug 2023

In Nuh, the only Muslim-majority district in the state of Haryana, Rohingya refugees live in fear of violence and detention.

Children playing in one of the two Rohingya camps in Nuh [Vipul Kumar/Al Jazeera]

 

Nuh, India – Abdul Jabbar, a Rohingya refugee living in a camp 80km (50 miles) from New Delhi, went to a nearby store earlier this month to find out what was keeping his 14-year-old son, who had left hours earlier to buy powdered pepper for that night’s meal.  

 

Burma–Bengal Crossings: Intercolonial Connections in Pre-Independence India

Devleena Ghosh
University of Technology, SydneyCorrespondence
Devleena.Ghosh@uts.edu.au
Pages 156-172 | Published online: 21 Mar 2016

Abstract

The large-scale movement of people between Burma and Bengal in the early twentieth century has been explored recently by authors such as Sugata Bose and Sunil Amrith who locate Burma within the wider migratory culture of the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and Southeast Asia. This article argues that the long and historical connections between Bengalis and Burmese were transformed by the British colonisation of the region. Through an analysis of selected literary texts in Bengali, some by well-known and others by obscure writers, this article shows that, for Indians, Burma constituted an elsewhere where the fantastic and superhuman were within reach, and caste and religious constraints could be circumvented and radical possibilities enabled by masquerade and disguise.

Introduction

Burma is a spectre that haunts the story of the east coast of India. Its geographical placement as one of India’s closest neighbours, sharing a thousand kilometres of common borders, is in contradiction to the elusive shadow that it intermittently casts on the emotional cartography of eastern India and, for the purposes of this paper, particularly Bengal. This lacuna in the shared and layered histories of the Eastern Indian Ocean has as much to do with shared colonial pasts as with the tendency of modern nation-states to treat relatively recent borders as sacred and inviolable, thereby denying all of the flows, movements, connections, fluidities and uncertainties that are the very stuff of human history and the imbrication of social, cultural and emotional worlds.

Baby dies after teargas fired at Rohingya trying to escape Indian detention centre

The Guardian
Kaamil Ahmed
Tue 25 Jul 2023

Child’s death follows hunger strike at Jammu & Kashmir jail amid increasing hostility towards 40,000 refugees ahead of elections 

A still from a video taken by one of the Rohingya detained at Hiranagar jail as Indian authorities teargassed the refugees last week. About 270 refugees are held at the jail. Photograph: Handout 

 

A five-month-old girl has died after Indian forces fired teargas at Rohingya refugees trying to escape a detention centre where they have been held for more than two years.

Videos – sent to Rohingya activists by detainees at Hiranagar jail, now operating as a holding centre – appear to show women and men amid clouds of teargas. About 270 Rohingya detainees at the centre, in the Indian-administered territory of Jammu & Kashmir, have been on hunger strike since April over their detention.