The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has condemned the BJP-led NDA government’s ‘illegal and inhumane deportation of 40 Rohingya refugees from Delhi’. The statement issued by the human rights platform states that these 40 Rohngyas were forcibly taken from Delhi and ‘thrown into sea waters near the Thailand border’. The statement further adds that the BJP government appears to be copying the Trump administration’s tool-kit of illegally deporting so-called ‘illegal immigrants by violating `rule of law’.
The statement says that the ‘PUCL is deeply concerned at the illegal, unconstitutional, inhumane and brutal treatment of Rohingya refugees which violates India’s civilizational ethos of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’’.
On May 6, 2025, several Rohingya refugees from Muslim and Christian communities who were registered with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees India (UNHCR) were reportedly detained by Delhi Police officials at different police stations under the pretext of collecting biometric data . They were picked up in vans and buses and held in custody at various police stations for over 24 hours. Subsequently, they were transferred to the Inderlok Detention Center in Delhi, with authorities claiming that biometric facilities were only available at that location and that the refugees would be released following the procedure.
To the utter shock of their families, says the statement, 43 detainees were not released after the biometric collection. Instead, they were covertly transported to the airport and flown to Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Later, they were forcibly put on naval ships with their hands tied and eyes blindfolded. They remained in that condition throughout the journey. Upon reaching the maritime border near Myanmar, the refugees — including children, women, the elderly, and individuals with serious health conditions such as cancer — were thrown into international waters near Tanintharyi region in Myanmar, which is rife with conflict, effectively abandoned to die.
Children as young as 15, female minors as young as 16, senior citizens up to 66 years old, and people suffering from cancer and other ailments were among those abandoned in the sea without regard for their lives or safety. PUCL contacted the distressed family members of the refugees to receive shocking details.
As one survivor of this inhumane and cruel treatment put it in an audio recording provided to PUCL:
“We were taken to Port Blair, in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, aboard an army aircraft. Later, we were forcibly put onto naval ships with our hands tied and eyes blindfolded. We remained in that condition for the entire journey. We were tortured aboard the naval ships, beaten brutally, and interrogated. We were accused of involvement in the Pahalgam terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. When we insisted that we were not involved, they told us we were pretending and disguising ourselves”.
“We were treated very badly. They used abusive language, and the women among us were subjected to sexual harassment and other forms of mistreatment. Then, we were thrown into international waters near Tanintharyi, bordering Thailand”.
A latest news report confirms that the 40 refugees are in Myanmar under the protection of the National Unity Government (NUG) in exile . The NUG has published a list of the 40 people saved without the whereabouts of the refugees being revealed.
It is learnt that three others who were detained along with them are reportedly still in the custody of the Inderlok Detention Centre of Delhi police. In addition, about 14 other refugees from two families who were also taken to Vikaspuri Police Station on the evening of May 6, 2025 were illegally detained. While the women were let off on 7th evening, the men were kept behind and relocated on 8th May, where they were beaten badly in custody, as per information provided by a family member of a survivor. It is …
In addition, about 14 other refugees from two families who were also taken to Vikaspuri Police Station on the evening of 6th May 2025 were illegally detained. While the women were let off on 7th evening, the men were kept behind and relocated on 8th May, where they were beaten badly in custody, as per information provided by a family member of a survivor. It is learnt that some others have been released pursuant to orders passed by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Dwarka.
Violation of international human rights standards and domestic law
The treatment meted out to the 40 Rohingya refugees who were thrown in international waters in gross violation of human rights, and the many more who are being harassed and tortured in India, is a blatant breach of India’s obligations under international law and also violates India’s own domestic law and policy. It bears repeating that arbitrarily throwing refugees into international waters is egregious conduct which is illegal, unconstitutional and a violation of the rules of international humanitarian and human rights law.
The fact that the refugees thrown into international waters, belong to the Rohingya community, which is one of the world’s most persecuted minorities, indicates that the Indian Government is even prepared to cast aside its obligations under one of the most important significant human rights treaty it has ratified, namely the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide of 1948.
The Rohingya have suffered decades of violence, discrimination and persecution in Myanmar, states the PUCL’s detailed statement. They have been forced to flee their own country fearing persecution and genocidal violence. While the largest numbers of Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers, numbering over a million stateless refugees, are living in Bangladesh, Rohingya refugees have also sought refuge in countries like Malaysia, India, Thailand and other countries in the region. The UNHCR India has issued Asylum Seeker Certificates, commonly known as Refugee Cards to about 22,500 Rohingya refugees living in India, as per the figures reported by Refugees International in December 2024. The same report also reveals the gross and systematic violations of constitutional and human rights inflicted upon the Rohingya refugees living in India .
All the Rohingya refugees meted with this inhuman and degrading treatment, including the 40 people abducted, tortured and thrown to die in international waters were registered with the UNHCR India. It is shocking to note that even while the refugees were illegally detained, the Supreme Court on 8th May 2025 while hearing a Petition to report the illegal detention and stop their deportation, refused to intervene to protect the life and dignity of the refugees. At the same time the government insisted that they were not obliged to extend protection of right to residence to the Rohingya refugees as the fundamental right to residence under Article 19(1)(e) is available only to Indian citizens. Such an argument is both preposterous and absurd: the Rohingyas have not come voluntarily seeking `residence’ in India, they have fled genocidal violence and are seeking shelter and refuge in India. They are as entitled as any other `person’ residing in India to protection of Article 21, the fundamental right to life and personal liberty, which is available to any person residing in India.
Even as India is not a signatory to United Nations Refugee Convention, the process for deportation of foreigners or those found to have illegally immigrated to India is provided under the Foreigners Act and connected legislations and policies. The authorities in any event have no right to resort to such brutalities, and inhuman and degrading treatment of refugees. The authorities have blatantly violated the provisions under the law and also the constitutional protections guaranteed to all `persons’, whether or not they are citizens, under Articles 14 and 21 of the Indian Constitution. The inhuman and degrading treatment of the refugees amount to torture and constitute violation of the United Nations Convention Against Torture, to which India is a signatory. In effect the illegal, arbitrary and inhumane method of deportation, makes a mockery of justice and marks the abuse of the process of law.
The Indian government has also failed in its obligations under the United Nations Genocide Convention – ratified in 1959 – which require the Indian state to actively prevent genocide, by pushing the destitute Rohingya refugees back to the site of violence which they escaped under precarious circumstances. Even legal deportation to a country where the deportees face persecution violates the principle of `non-refoulement’ which is today a part of customary international law. Such deportation of the Rohingyas back to Myanmar is particularly egregious as the International Court of Justice has come to a preliminary finding that the Rohingya were subjected to genocide in Myanmar.
However, leaving aside the international law principle of non-refoulement, the Indian Government was bound under our own law to ensure that there is no violation of the right to equality and the right to be treated with dignity, which is due to all persons. The fact that those who had UNHCR documentation were arbitrarily picked up, beaten up, tortured, sexually abused and deported violates the right the equal treatment as well as the right to dignity. The fact that these arbitrary raids have broken up families, with some members deported and others spared violates the right to life under Article 21.
It is a fact that the Government of India has already accepted and recognised the Rohingya refugees as persecuted communities and recognised their identity in the form of UNHCR issued refugee cards. To now term and vilify one of the most persecuted communities in the world as illegal immigrants would be grave injustice and curtails their life and liberty violating Article 21 laid down under Constitution of India.
The actions of the Government of India run totally contrary to the ruling of the Supreme Court which observed in the landmark decision of `National Human Rights Commission Vs State of Arunachal Pradesh’:
‘‘We are a country governed by the Rule of Law. Our Constitution confers certain rights on every human being and certain other rights on citizens. Every person is entitled to equality before the law and equal protection of the laws. So also, no person can be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. Thus, the State is bound to protect the life and liberty of every human being, be he a citizen or otherwise…’
At the very least, the Rohingyas are entitled to due process under existing law which requires that the detainee get notice, opportunity of hearing and representation- all of which were all wilfully flouted in the case of the 40 refugees who were surreptitiously deported. This constitutes a violation of natural justice principles and tantamount to cruel and degrading treatment, which is not authorised by Indian law.
Apart from the fact that the Indian government throwing refugees into the sea is callous and illegal, it is also deeply antithetical to our civilisational ethos, concludes the PUCL statement.
‘The deceptive and fraudulent manner adopted by the Government of India in the forcible removal and dumping of Rohingya refugees in the sea coast of Myanmar and Thailand, is eerily similar to the approach of the Trump Administration to removal of those they call as `illegal aliens’ from the USA. Undeterred by court injunctions, the Trump administration has flouted the `rule of law’ to illegally deport even, citizens of the USA or those who have proper residence permits.
‘What is extremely worrying is that the BJP-led government, both at the centre and the state, seem to have adopted the present Trump-led US government’s approach of cocking a snook at the doctrine of `rule of law’ and disregarding court orders.
‘The paradigm shift in approach to refugees of the Modi-led Government is highlighted by the statement of Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Chief Minister of Assam who said that the new policy is of “pushing back” illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas at the borders itself. He continued,
“Now we have decided not to go ahead with the legal process. Earlier the system was to arrest a person and bring him to the Indian legal system. …. now we have decided we will not bring them inside the country. We will push them back. Pushing them back is the new phenomenon. Pushing back is innovation ”.
PUCL condemns this so-called innovative method adopted by the BJP government as heartless, inhumane, illegal and unconstitutional. PUCL strongly condemns the inhuman and degrading treatment, torture, abduction and attempted killing of the Rohingya refugees. The statement was issued by Kavita Srivastava, president and V. Suresh, general secretary of the PUCL.
PUCL calls upon the Indian Government to:
- Initiate immediate inquiry into the grave allegations of human rights violations against the Rohingya refugees by the authorities and fix accountability on the officers responsible and ensure that they are tried and punished as per law.
- Reiterate its commitment to the protection of Rohingya refugees in India and assure that no such illegal steps will be undertaken by government functionaries without following due process and will not threaten and push to genocidal danger, the members of the persecuted Rohingya community.
- Disclose the whereabouts to the families of the detainees and produce all illegally detained persons immediately to be released to the safe care and protection of their families.
Related:
Rohingya Genocide 2012-2018: Argentinian Court issues arrest warrants to Myanmar military leaders
Detained and dehumanized: The plight of Rohingya refugees in detention centres