Dozens of Rohingya, a Muslim minority population, are now in an improvised detention center in Jammu’s Hira Nagar prison. They were identified after local authorities conducted biometric tests and other tests on hundreds of people to verify their identities.
“The campaign is part of an exercise to track foreigners living in Jammu without valid documents,” said one of the two officials, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
“We have started the process of deporting these refugees,” added the official.
In 2019, the Indian government divided the former state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories, revoking its formerly limited autonomy and increasing New Delhi’s control over the Muslim-majority region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government regards the Rohingya as illegal immigrants and a security risk, and has ordered that thousands of them living in scattered settlements be identified and deported.
Myanmar’s military has been accused of committing atrocities, including mass killings and rapes against the Muslim minority population, forcing nearly a million people to flee. Most now live in dilapidated refugee camps on the border with Bangladesh. The UN has recommended that senior military officials face charges of genocide.
Myanmar denies accusations of genocide and says the army was waging a legitimate counter-insurgency campaign.
But India rejected the United Nations’ position that deporting the Rohingya violates the international legal principle of repulsion – sending refugees back to a place where they face danger.
The Indian government also argued that India is not a signatory to the UN Convention on the Status of Refugees, nor to the Protocol on the Status of Refugees. A total of 148 countries are signatories to one of these two legal agreements that define the rights of refugees and aim to protect them.
The Rohingya living in Jammu said they were concerned about the weekend’s arrests and the threat of deportation.
“We will be back when peace returns to our country,” said Sufeera, 28. She said her uncle and brother were sent to the detention center, leaving her alone with her children.
Another refugee, Sadiq, 48, said members of his family were also detained. “We were told that we will be deported,” he said. “They took mom and dad … Who’s going to take care of them?”