The Refugee Conundrum: Where Does India Stand?

India's refugee policy is back in the spotlight! Hours after Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced that the central government will shift the Rohingya refugees to flats designated for economically weaker sections in Delhi, the Union Home Ministry issued a clarification, saying that the Centre has no such plans and the illegal foreigners will be kept in detention centres till their deportation as per law.

Rohingya refugees are designated as illegal foreigners by India, so naturally, the announcement to provide them with flats was a surprise.

The issue of settlement and deportation of Rohingya refugees is not new to India. According to Human Rights Watch, an estimated 40,000 Rohingyas are in India - at least 20,000 of them are registered with the UN Human Rights Commission.

The question, however, is what must India do with them? Resettle them, or deport them back to Myanmar? What does the Indian law say about refugees? We decode.

India’s refugee policy

It is the 1951 Refugee Convention that protects refugees around the world. Despite India’s rich history in welcoming refugees, India has not signed the UN 1951 convention on refugees. This technically means that India does not have a policy or a law to protect refugees.

India in 2003 said that the definition of 'refugee' in the UN convention is narrow and fails to recognise the fundamental reasons which give rise to refugee movements. India has also repeatedly said that such immigrants or refugees are susceptible to recruitment by "terror" groups. This is not just an infringement on rights of Indian citizens but also poses grave security challenges.

How does Indian law protect refugees?

The only protection they have is the right to life under Article 21 and protection against arbitrary abuse of power under Article 14 of the constitution. While India has not signed the UN Convention on refugees, India has been a signatory to various other human rights conventions against torture, child and women’s rights and racism. Most of these protect refugees coming to India.