Episode: KPN 11-05-2025 

40 Rohingya refugees in India forcibly returned to Myanmar

Forty Rohingya refugees in India have been forcibly returned to Myanmar’s military council after being arrested by Indian authorities, Delhi-based media outlets including Northeast News reported.

The 40 Rohingyas who were forcibly returned to Myanmar’s military council were registered with the UN refugee agency UNHCR and had refugee status certificates.

The 40 Rohingya refugees were airlifted from the Indian Air Force base in Hindon on May 7 to Port Blair airport near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, from where they were handed over to the Myanmar Navy by an Indian naval ship near Pinding village in Tanintharyi Region, Myanmar.

The fate of the 40 Rohingya who were forcibly repatriated after arriving at the Tanintharyi Military Council’s naval base is currently unknown, and the Myanmar Military Council has not yet released any information, but the forcible repatriation has caused a lot of concern among the Rohingya refugee community in India.

Indian authorities have been cracking down on Rohingya refugees in the country for the past week, and on the night of May 6, dozens of Rohingya refugees were arrested in a surprise raid on a Rohingya shelter in Uttam Nagar, Delhi. The exact number has not been disclosed by Indian authorities.

According to AEN’s India-based Rohingya source, around 100 Rohingya refugees have been arrested.

There are also Rohingya refugees in India who are said to be uncontacted, he said.

Both parents of Nazi, a Rohingya refugee activist in India, were among those arrested, according to Maktoob, an online news outlet.

Delhi-based human rights lawyer Colin Gonsalves has strongly criticized the Indian government for detaining Rohingya refugees and handing them over to the military junta, saying that returning them to the Myanmar military government, which is known to be a perpetrator of torture and human rights abuses, violates international law.

Gonsalves said that India has a legal obligation to protect refugees under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, as the Supreme Court has ruled that about 22,000 Rohingya refugees are protected by law.

Indian authorities have repeatedly stated that India is not a signatory to the 1950 Refugee Convention, but the return of refugees to Myanmar, where they are at risk of torture and death, is illegal and has raised concerns among human rights watchdogs.

Tagged as: Rohingya boat people,  Maungdaw,  Military Council force,  Rakhine,  IIMM,  Rathedaung,  ARSA,  Rohingya,  war crimes,  Rohingya Refugee,  Camp schools,  Akyab,  Rohingya refugee camp,  community schools,  APBn,  RRRC,  foods shortage,  Balukhali,  Sittwe,  hungers,  Bangadesh refugee camp,  Teknaf,  ration cut,  BGP,  Burma-Bangladesh border,  Arakan,  RSO,  Buthidaung,  BGB,  Burma,  Malaysia going boat,  IDP camp in Arakan,  Arakan Army,  Myanmar,  Military navy,  Kutupalong,  Cox's Bazar.