Guwahati: India is home to an estimated 22,500 Rohingya refugees registered with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). While the plight of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and other Southeast Asian nations is well-documented, the condition of those in India remains largely overlooked.
A new report – by Daniel Sullivan, Priyali Sur and Ankita Dan – reveals that hundreds of Rohingya refugees, including women and children, are detained indefinitely under dire conditions across detention centres across the country.
“All information regarding the well-being and life of detainees at the detention centres is opaque. There is barely any transparency in this matter, and individuals and organisations who are aware of the blatant violation of human rights are scared to talk about what is happening for fear of consequences,” Priyali told The Wire.
The Rohingya, an ethno-religious minority from Myanmar, are the world’s largest stateless population (about 2.8 million). Stripped of citizenship and subjected to decades of persecution, over a million fled Myanmar following genocidal violence in 2017. While most found refuge in Bangladesh, many sought safety in neighbouring India, traveling along the India-Myanmar border or crossing from Bangladesh.
Unlike other refugee populations in the country, such as Tibetans and Sri Lankans, the Rohingya face systemic neglect and hostility. Despite holding UNHCR refugee cards, they are frequently labeled as “illegal immigrants” by authorities and are at constant risk of arrest, detention or deportation to Myanmar.
Life in detention
Interviews conducted by the Azadi Project and Refugees International from May to November 2024 paint a harrowing picture of life for Rohingya detainees in India.
“Interviewing people and experts, and verifying details was extremely challenging. But we wanted to make sure we had it right and so we took long but made sure we had accurate data backed by evidence,” Priyali said.
Nearly 676 Rohingya refugees, including pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, children and the elderly, are held in detention facilities across the country; 608 of them are not even facing any ongoing legal case.
“The visits and interviews revealed gross violations of constitutional and human rights; and a failure by India to adhere to its commitments to international human rights treaties. Men and women are segregated, and spouses are not allowed time together. Older children are forcefully separated from their parents in a violation of India’s model detention code that states ‘families should not be separated’,” the report noted.
“Further, most Rohingya refugees are detained even after they have served their sentences. Children living in these detention centres have no access to formal schooling or playgrounds, and older people with age-related mobility issues are left at the mercy of fellow detainees for food and toilet access. Some of those still detained were infants at the time of their detention and have never had the chance to experience life outside the detention centres,” the report added.
Detainees are housed in facilities such as the Matia Transit Camp in Assam, the largest of its kind, which currently holds over 100 Rohingya refugees. In Delhi, the Lampur Detention Centre and Sarai Rohilla Seva Kendra house refugees who have spent more than three years in confinement. In Jammu, the Kathua Holding Centre – formerly a sub-jail – functions as a detention centre where conditions are reportedly worse than in prisons.
In West Bengal, hundreds are detained at Dum Dum Central Jail or transferred to overcrowded women’s and children’s shelters like the Women Union Home in Kolkata. Even those released remain separated from their families, with conditions in shelters described as equally restrictive as those in detention.
“The current administration is using this persecuted population to further fan Islamophobia in India. By saying that they are here to change the demographic of India, they are fearmongering and furthering their anti-Muslim rhetoric, and they use this as a tool especially during elections,” noted Priyali.
“As per India’s commitment to various international treaties as well as according to our own constitution, we have to treat refugees or those seeking asylum with dignity and they are entitled to a life of liberty here. However, instead of offering them refuge with access to social safety nets, instead of building their capacity so they can contribute to the economy of India, the authorities, it seems, want to keep them vulnerable and use them as a political tool,” Priyali added.
Inhumane conditions
The report reveals rampant violations of human rights in these detention centres. Families are routinely separated, with spouses denied time together and children forcibly removed from their parents. The lack of access to formal education, healthcare and basic sanitation has exacerbated physical and mental health issues among detainees.
Many detainees have developed severe health issues, including paralysis, due to poor sanitation and ventilation. Legal aid is scarce and refugees are denied meaningful access to UNHCR representatives.
“Poor sanitation and lack of ventilation has also led to severe mental health and physical ailments including temporary paralysis in many cases. There is no access to mental health support… Very limited access to legal aid and to international institutions like the UNHCR has meant many Rohingya refugees have been arbitrarily detained for over a decade (with no criminal charges) and with no end in sight. This includes pregnant women, breast-feeding mothers, children, differently-abled people and older people,” the report stated.
Priyali underlined that there is no system of legal and mental health support that detainees can access.
“Most recently, an organisation is trying to offer some psycho-social support in one of the detention centres. But given the severity of the mental health illnesses, it isn’t enough,” she said.
“For people, including women, children and older people, who have languished in jails for years for no crime, imagine the toll it takes on both their mental and physical health. Worse, they don’t see an end in sight as there are barely any pro bono lawyers or legal aid support to represent their cases. They are left at the mercy and whims and fancies of the authorities in terms of their release.” Priyali added.
Inhumane treatment and health crisis
The report reveals rampant human rights violations in these detention centres:
- Families are routinely split apart, with spouses denied time together and children forcibly removed from their parents.
- Overcrowding, inadequate sanitation and poor ventilation have caused severe health issues, including respiratory illnesses and paralysis.
- Insufficient food supplies and poor-quality meals leave detainees malnourished, with children and mothers particularly affected.
- Children are denied formal education while women suffer from reproductive health issues due to neglect.
- Prolonged detention and inhumane conditions have led to widespread mental health issues, including anxiety and depression, exacerbated by the lack of professional support.
- Multiple deaths have been reported, with little accountability from authorities.
“Prolonged and indefinite detention under terrible conditions has meant that many detainees report poor health and also severe ailments such as kidney stones, respiratory and breathing problems, and tuberculosis,” the report stated. In March 2024, Hamida Begum, a minor, “mysteriously died at the Shahzada Bagh detention centre in Delhi.”
Based on interviews and media reports, the team found that since 2021, at least seven Rohingya refugees have died in detention in Jammu, including the tragic death of a five-month-old infant in the Jammu detention centre in July 2023 following use of tear gas.
“The researchers spoke to the senior superintendent of police, Mr Shivdeep Singh Jamwal, who was in charge of the detention centre in Jammu when tear gas was used in an enclosed space. He admitted to the use of tear gas while children were present, ‘Yes, a bit of tear gas was used, while they were pelting stones. This is a normal issue’,” the report highlighted.
The report stated that the mother of the infant taken to her baby’s funeral in handcuffs and iron chains.
“In 2019, a minor detainee at a home in West Bengal had no access to menstrual products,” the report stated. Interviewees reported to the team that she ultimately was taken to the hospital in a critical condition with maggots found in her vagina.
Legal and policy failures
India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and the Rohingya are detained under outdated domestic laws, such as the Foreigners Act, 1946. These laws classify them as “illegal immigrants,” enabling their indefinite detention despite a lack of criminal charges.
The Union government has defended its actions by citing national security concerns. However, this argument is undermined by the lack of evidence connecting Rohingya refugees to any credible security threat. Discriminatory policies, such as the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, which excludes Muslim refugees from fast-tracked citizenship, further exacerbate the plight of the Rohingya.
UNHCR in India has reportedly not visited many detention facilities including the largest one in India. Some women detainees expressed their disappointment that the UNHCR officials had stopped responding to their calls as well.
Case studies
45-year-old Minara Begum (name changed) has spent more than a decade in detention centres with her family after fleeing violence in her homeland. Her desperate plea for freedom and a better future for her children has been met with rejection, as authorities continue to deny her family the opportunity to seek asylum in a third country.
Minara fled Myanmar in November 2012 with her husband, three children and extended family to escape persecution. Upon arriving in India, they approached local police for help, unaware of the consequences. Instead of receiving refuge, they were detained and sent to jail.
At the time of their detention, Minara’s youngest child was just two months old, while her other two children were seven years and 18 months old. Her eldest child was forcibly separated from her and placed in an orphanage.
“We have done nothing wrong. Our villages were being burned, and we came here (India) to save our lives,” the report quotes Minara as saying.
After two years in the initial jail, Minara and her two youngest children were moved to another facility, while her husband and eldest son, then nine years old, were sent to a men’s prison. Her youngest child, who was a baby when they fled Myanmar, is now 12 years old and does not know of a life outside prisons and detention centres.
In 2023, a potential lifeline emerged when the UNHCR facilitated an interview request from the Canadian high commission for the family’s resettlement. However, authorities denied the request, citing the government’s unwillingness to allow them to seek asylum in a third country, and the high court upheld this decision.
“Our lives have passed. We want to save our children’s lives… so they can live freely. Help us!” Minara said.
“Minara’s only hope for herself and her family is to live a free life – a life that they deserve. Her children don’t deserve to live behind bars, devoid of formal education. They don’t deserve to live in a constant situation of separation. For 12 years, Minara has only seen and interacted with her husband from behind bars. Being persecuted and subjected to violence, and then fleeing for safety was traumatic enough but this ensuing trauma of detention has made her and her family lose hope and the will to live,” Priyali added.
82-old Lily Begum (name changed) has remained in detention in Assam despite completing her prison sentence over three years ago. She fled Myanmar in 2002 to escape persecution and settled in Jammu, where she was granted refugee status by the UNHCR in 2009. However, in January 2019, she was arrested along with 30 other Rohingya refugees in Karimganj, Assam, while returning from Tripura in search of work.
Lily was sentenced to one year and six months of imprisonment, which was completed on August 20, 2020, but she remains detained at the Matia Transit Camp in Goalpara, Assam, after being moved from the Silchar Detention Centre.
Lily’s advanced age and deteriorating health have compounded her struggles. She is severely paralysed, requiring assistance for basic functions, yet detention authorities have reportedly failed to provide adequate care, with fellow women detainees taking on the responsibility of helping her with daily tasks.
Her lawyer has criticised the prolonged detention, stating to the interviewers, “If they are victims of persecution and cannot be safely repatriated and also cannot be kept here, then other options must be explored. One option could be engaging in consultations with other countries who might be willing to accommodate them and finding solutions accordingly.”
Priyali said that “people inside detention centres don’t get enough to eat… clean and adequate bathrooms aren’t available” and medical attention is given only when the case turns severe. “None of this is spoken about or reported and hence, barely anything changes. Women like Lily Begum don’t even get the nutrition or medical attention they deserve. A nurse is unfortunately a far cry.”
Another victim, 34-year-old Farid, sought refuge in Kolkata in 2015, where he secured his UNHCR refugee card. He was reportedly relocating to Bangladesh when he was detained in Kolkata under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946. He was sent to jail and sentenced to six months of imprisonment.
“Despite completing his sentence period of six months, he has continued to remain in detention for the last eight years. Farid shares that there are currently 20-25 Rohingya men and 15 women in the jail with him who have been held for years beyond their sentence. Apart from the adult detainees, there are several children there as well,” the report stated.
Call for action
The report urges immediate reforms, including:
- The release of arbitrarily detained refugees, starting with vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and children.
- Legal recognition of Rohingya refugees and an end to their detention under the Foreigners Act.
- Improved living conditions in detention facilities and family reunification.
- Enactment of comprehensive refugee laws aligned with international human rights standards.
The report appeals to the UNHCR and the United States to engage with India diplomatically to address these violations and provide financial support to local organisations assisting Rohingya refugees.
Also read: Rohingya: Amid Concern Over Order to cut off Water & Power, UNHCR Team Visits Jammu Settlement
India’s approach to the Rohingya crisis starkly contrasts with its treatment of other refugee groups, highlighting a lack of consistency in its refugee policy. The arbitrary detention of hundreds of Rohingya refugees not only violates international human rights treaties but also pinpoints failures in the constitutional commitment to dignity and equality.
For the detained Rohingya, however, time is running out.
