UN Launches Inquiry Into Reports Of Rohingya Refugees Cast Into Sea By India

New York, US: The United Nations (UN) has initiated a formal inquiry into alarming reports that Rohingya refugees were forcibly pushed off an Indian naval vessel into the Andaman Sea. The allegations, if confirmed, point to what the UN has termed “unconscionable, unacceptable acts” that potentially violate international human rights and refugee protection obligations.

Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, issued a strongly worded statement on Friday, demanding a full explanation from the Indian government.

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“The idea that Rohingya refugees have been cast into the sea from naval vessels is nothing short of outrageous. I am seeking further information and testimony regarding these developments and implore the Indian government to provide a full accounting of what happened,” said Andrews.

The statement follows the emergence of reports that Indian authorities may have deported Rohingya refugees by abandoning them at sea, placing their lives in grave danger.

The UN has responded by appointing an expert to investigate the claims, as concern grows over the treatment of stateless Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar.

According to Andrews, the UN had already flagged serious concerns to the Indian government prior to this incident.

On March 3, he sent a formal communication expressing alarm over the arbitrary and indefinite detention of refugees and asylum seekers from Myanmar, particularly the Rohingya, and raised the issue of possible refoulement, the forced return of refugees to countries where they may face persecution.

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Andrews called on the Indian government to immediately halt all deportations of Rohingya to Myanmar, end the practice of arbitrary detention of refugees, and provide international monitors access to detention facilities.

“The Government of India must immediately and unequivocally repudiate unconscionable acts against Rohingya refugees, stop all deportations to Myanmar, and ensure that those responsible for these blatant violations of India’s international obligations are held responsible,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday expressed doubts over a petition alleging that 43 Rohingya refugees, including minors, elderly persons, and some with serious health conditions, were abandoned in international waters during forcible deportation to Myanmar.

Declining to pass any interim orders to halt more deportations, the top court said that the petition made “vague, evasive and sweeping statements” without material evidence to support them.

The central government has often cited that it is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol, and so the Rohingya are essentially “foreigners without rights”.

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However, the principle of non-refoulement is widely regarded as a binding part of customary international law. Notably, India is a signatory to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which prohibits expelling, returning or extraditing a person to a country where they may face torture.

The Rohingya, a Muslim minority from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, have faced decades of persecution and were the subject of a brutal military crackdown in 2017, which the UN has described as a “textbook case of ethnic cleansing”. Thousands fled to neighbouring countries, including India, in search of safety.