<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a cramped refugee camp tucked inside India\u2019s capital, a quiet knock shattered the night.
\u201cIt\u2019s just for biometric verification,\u201d the police said. \u201cTen minutes. Come with us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it wasn\u2019t a routine check. Within minutes, men were forced into police vans, women were separated, and children were left sobbing. What followed wasn\u2019t verification\u2014it was detention, abuse, and for many, forced return to the very country they once fled in fear: Myanmar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over recent weeks, Indian authorities have launched a harsh crackdown on Rohingya refugees, arresting dozens in New Delhi, detaining them without due process, and deporting many back to Myanmar\u2014a country still ruled by a brutal military regime responsible for genocide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Witnesses, survivors, and human rights experts say these actions not only violate international law, but also put one of the world\u2019s most persecuted communities in grave danger. For the Rohingya in India, the message is chillingly clear: You are not safe here.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n On May 6, police descended on Rohingya communities in New Delhi\u2019s Hastsal, Vikaspuri, and Okhla neighborhoods. Survivors say at least 80 people were taken in a single night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey called us by name,\u201d recalls Paul, a Rohingya Christian refugee, speaking under a pseudonym. \u201cThey said it was routine. But when my older brother stood up slowly, they beat him across the neck with a wooden stick.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Others shared even more disturbing accounts. In an audio message obtained by Fortify Rights, a deported refugee named Sayeed describes being blindfolded, handcuffed, and flown out on a military plane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t know where we were going. They beat anyone who asked questions,\u201d he says. \u201cNow we\u2019re back in Myanmar. They handed us over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n India has never signed the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol, and it has no domestic asylum law. Yet for years, it was seen as a relatively safe refuge for Rohingya fleeing military violence. Many entered unofficially but carried UNHCR refugee cards\u2014small symbols of hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That hope is now fading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since 2019, India\u2019s government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has taken a hardline stance. Rohingya are increasingly labeled \u201cillegal migrants,\u201d and senior officials have pledged to deport them all. Quietly, arrests and deportations have become routine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This latest wave marks a dangerous escalation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bibi, a Rohingya mother, was arrested with her husband and children. She and the kids were released after a day, but her husband hasn\u2019t been seen since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe told me not to try to find him,\u201d she says. \u201cHe said they were torturing him. I think he\u2019s already been sent back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n India may not be bound by the Refugee Convention, but it is still required under international law\u2014including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)\u2014to follow the principle of non-refoulement<\/strong>, which bans returning anyone to a place where they face torture or persecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indian law also offers protection:<\/p>\n\n\n\n None of these rights were granted to the Rohingya detainees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere was no judicial review, no lawyer, no hearing,\u201d said Yap Lay Sheng, a human rights specialist at Fortify Rights. \u201cIndia is sending Rohingya back to a regime known for genocide. It\u2019s a blatant violation of international duty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those who survived detention describe overcrowded cells, days without food, and constant fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harun, a young father, was detained with his two-year-old son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey made us sit in a tiny room all day. My baby kept crying. I asked for food again and again\u2014twelve times. No one answered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Entire Rohingya communities now live in fear. Families hide their children. Phones stay off. Even UNHCR cards, once a sign of protection, now feel like false promises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI fled genocide in 2017,\u201d said a 47-year-old man from Buthidaung, Myanmar. \u201cI thought India would be safe. Now, every night, I wait for the sound of boots. There\u2019s nowhere left to hide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Myanmar is still burning. Since the military coup in February 2021, the country has spiraled deeper into chaos\u2014marked by airstrikes, executions, and widespread human rights abuses. For the Rohingya, the risks are even worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2017, Myanmar\u2019s military carried out what the UN called a \u201ctextbook case of ethnic cleansing.\u201d Villages were destroyed. Mass graves uncovered. Nearly 750,000 people fled, many to refugee camps in Bangladesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sending anyone back now is not just irresponsible\u2014it\u2019s deadly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n India\u2019s campaign against the Rohingya has unfolded quietly, lost amid election headlines and global crises. But the consequences are serious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rights groups say India has already deported scores of Rohingya. Some have disappeared. Others are believed to be imprisoned\u2014or worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe silence of the international community has enabled these abuses,\u201d says Fortify Rights. \u201cThis isn\u2019t a gray area. It\u2019s black and white. These deportations are illegal and morally indefensible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Advocates are urging India to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The law may allow the removal of undocumented foreigners, but it cannot override international human rights standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the Rohingya, exile didn\u2019t end when they left Myanmar. Persecution followed them\u2014across borders, through police raids, into detention, and now, back toward danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Yaser Arafat, a Rohingya youth advocate in Bangladesh, said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are called illegal everywhere. But no one asks: Where is our home? Who made us illegal?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Until governments like India are held to account, the Rohingya will remain trapped\u2014forever fleeing, never finding safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\nA Night of Terror<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
From Sanctuary to Surveillance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Legal Obligations, Ignored<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Life Behind Bars, Fear at the Border<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Back to Danger<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A Deafening Silence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What Needs to Change<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Stateless, Again<\/h3>\n\n\n\n