{"id":34564,"date":"2024-12-31T18:26:28","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T12:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=34564"},"modified":"2024-12-31T18:26:30","modified_gmt":"2024-12-31T12:56:30","slug":"india-rohingya-crisis-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/31-12-2024\/india-rohingya-crisis-response","title":{"rendered":"Examining India\u2019s stance on the Rohingya crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus :GS 2\/IR<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A recent study by The Azadi Project and Refugees International highlighted \u201cgross violations of constitutional and human rights\u201d regarding the detention of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/18-12-2024\/india-violation-of-rights-of-rohingya-detainees\">Rohingya refugees in India.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The study revealed that many Rohingya refugees remain incarcerated even after serving their prescribed sentences.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Rohingya<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Rohingya are an ethnic group, mostly Muslim, who live in the western Myanmar province of Rakhine.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They speak a Bengali dialect, unlike the commonly spoken Burmese language.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Myanmar does not grant them full citizenship, considering them as migrants from colonial times, despite their long presence in the country.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rohingyas are excluded from civil service and their movement is restricted within the Rakhine state.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Concerns Regarding Rohingya Refugees:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>There is<strong> no standardized refugee policy<\/strong> in India, leading to disparate treatment based on shifting geopolitical interests.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rohingya refugees, despite being registered with the UNHCR,<strong> face arbitrary detention and criminal imprisonment<\/strong>, unlike other refugee groups such as Tibetans or Sri Lankans.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 excludes Muslims, including Rohingya, from benefits given to other religious minorities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rohingya refugees <strong>lack legal representation <\/strong>due to funding constraints and the revocation of FCRA licenses for civil society organizations working on their behalf.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Detention conditions are appalling<\/strong>, with overcrowded and dehumanizing living conditions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Protection Under International Law:<\/strong><br>&#8211; Rohingya refugees are protected under the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, which enshrine the principle of non-refoulement (prohibiting the expulsion of individuals to countries where they face persecution).<br>&#8211; The UNHCR and other organizations affirm non-refoulement as customary international law, binding on all states, including those not parties to the Refugee Convention.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India\u2019s Stand and International Obligations on Refugees:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and other human rights treaties like the Convention against Torture.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India uses the Foreigners Act, 1946, and the Passport Act, 1967 to regulate the presence of foreigners and considers Rohingya refugees as \u201cillegal migrants.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India is a party to the<strong> International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), <\/strong>which obligates member states to refrain from deporting individuals to places where they may face torture or cruel treatment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>India has also ratified other international instruments<\/strong>, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which enshrine the principle of non-refoulement.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Though India has signed the Convention Against Torture, it has not ratified it, meaning its provisions are non-binding.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Supreme Court\u2019s Role:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>India\u2019s Supreme Court<\/strong> has upheld the government\u2019s stance on national security concerns and rejected a plea to prevent deportations of Rohingya refugees.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the absence of domestic refugee law, the Supreme Court has used international conventions to safeguard human rights, as seen in landmark cases like Vishaka &amp; Ors. v. State of Rajasthan (1997) and National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India (2014).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution<\/strong> has been interpreted by some courts to include non-refoulement.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Supreme Court directed legal services to visit detention centers to evaluate the living conditions of refugees.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Suggestions and Way Forward\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Rohingya crisis is a stark reminder of the importance of human rights and the need for global solidarity in the face of humanitarian disasters.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is crucial to continue raising awareness and supporting efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Rohingya people.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>There is a need to address its international obligations, particularly regarding the protection of refugees under customary international law.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The recent study underscores the importance of creating a consistent refugee policy, providing legal aid, and improving detention conditions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Source : TH<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recent study by The Azadi Project and Refugees International highlighted \u201cgross violations of constitutional and human rights\u201d regarding the detention of Rohingya refugees in India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34564"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34565,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34564\/revisions\/34565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}