India Expels Scores of Rohingya Refugees to Bangladesh, Myanmar

Since May 2025, Indian authorities, under states governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have expelled scores of Rohingya refugees and Bengali-speaking Muslims to Bangladesh and Myanmar without rights protections, prompting condemnation from Human Rights Watch (HRW). At least 192 Rohingya refugees registered with the UNHCR were among those expelled, with some forcibly put on a ship near Myanmar's coast and made to swim ashore. HRW documented arbitrary detentions, mistreatment, and assaults on refugees, including confiscation of their personal belongings and UNHCR registration cards. Refugees fleeing India have reported threats of detention and abuse, and some have fled to Bangladesh to avoid the crackdown. India is not party to the 1951 Refugee Convention but is bound by customary international law against returning people to danger. Meanwhile, Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh's overcrowded camps continue to call for safe, dignified, and voluntary repatriation to Myanmar with citizenship guarantees, stressing the need for international support to address humanitarian challenges, including education deprivation and rising child marriage and labor risks.