Dozens of Rohingya, a Muslim minority population, are now in a temporary center in Jammu’s Hira Nagar prison. They were identified after local authorities conducted biometric and other tests on hundreds of people to verify their identity.
“The ride is part of an exercise to track down foreigners living in Jammu without valid documents,” one of the two officials said. They did not want to be nominated because they are not authorized to speak to the media.
“We have begun the deportation process of these refugees,” the official added.
In 2019, the Indian government split the former state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories, revoking the former limited autonomy and increasing New Delhi’s control over the Muslim majority region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government considers the Rohingya to be illegal immigrants and a security risk, and has ordered the identification and deportation of thousands of those living in scattered settlements.
The military in Myanmar is accused of committing atrocities, including massacres and rape against the Muslim minority population, which forced nearly a million people to flee. Most now live in hooligan refugee camps on the border with Bangladesh. The UN has recommended that top military officials face genocide charges.
Myanmar denies allegations of genocide and says the military has waged a legitimate counter-insurgency campaign.
But India has rejected the United Nations position that the expulsion of the Rohingya violates the international legal principle of refutation by sending refugees back to a place where they are threatened.
The Indian government also argued that India was not signed to the specific UN Convention on the Status of Refugees, nor the Protocol on the Status of Refugees. A total of 148 countries have signed one of these two legal agreements, which sets out the rights of refugees and is intended to protect them.
The Rohingya living in Jammu said they were concerned about the detention of the weekend and the threat of deportation.
“We will return when peace returns to our country,” Sufeera, 28, said. She said her uncle and brother were sent to the corner center and left her alone with her children.
Another refugee, 48-year-old Sadiq, said members of his family were also detained. “We were told we would be deported,” he said. “They took mom and dad … Who will take care of them?”