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.
On that day, the state’s Chief Minister N Biren Singh – who belongs to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – announced on social media that his government had deported the first batch of eight refugees from a group of 77 members who had “entered India illegally”. However, the deportation was later stopped after Myanmar authorities refused to cooperate.
Hamin, a Rohingya who arrived in India in 2018, is currently in New Delhi, constantly checking for updates on the deportation attempts of his community. He expresses concern over the panic among Myanmar nationals living in India, uncertain of who might be next to face the threat of deportation.
For many Rohingya refugees in India, the fear of deportation is worsened by the exclusion of their community from the Citizenship Amendment Act, which grants citizenship to persecuted minorities from neighboring countries. The Act does not include Muslim communities, including the Rohingya, who are also facing persecution.
The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority from Myanmar who have faced violence and repression, leading many to flee to neighboring countries like India. The situation for Rohingya refugees in India is precarious, as the country lacks a specific law protecting refugees.
Critics have accused the Indian government of implementing a double standard with the exclusion of persecuted minorities from neighboring countries from the citizenship law. During a recent hearing challenging the deportation of Rohingya, the government argued that the group did not have the fundamental right to live in India, sparking condemnation from rights activists.
With ongoing civil unrest in Myanmar following a military coup, activists are worried that deported Rohingya refugees could face further danger. Amid hate campaigns on social media and a lack of protection, the future looks uncertain for the Rohingya community in India.