Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has confirmed that his government is no longer detaining or prosecuting Rohingya refugees and other undocumented migrants under Indian law but is instead directly pushing them back into Bangladesh, according to Scroll.in.
This marks a significant shift in policy. “We have now decided we will not bring them inside the country. We will push them back. Pushing them back is a new phenomenon,” Sarma said.
Previously, undocumented migrants entering Assam — including Rohingyas — were arrested, charged, and held in detention centers or jails. But Sarma now calls the new pushback strategy an “innovation” aimed at reducing the annual influx of an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 people.
His statement comes just days after Bangladesh’s Border Guard (BGB) detained 123 undocumented individuals, including Rohingya and Bengali-speaking people, near the Indo-Bangladesh border, following reports that India had pushed them across in Kurigram and Khagrachhari.
The BGB’s Director General, Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui, said the identities of those detained were still being verified. Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman confirmed that Dhaka is seeking direct talks with New Delhi about the ongoing “push-in” operations.
“We are ready to receive any verified Bangladeshi citizen—but only through official channels. We do not accept pushbacks,” Rahman emphasized.
Sarma also told The Telegraph that his government has ended all legal procedures for handling undocumented entrants and now treats pushbacks as a “routine” measure. The Chief Minister confirmed that some of the deportees were previously detained at the Matia detention center in Assam.
He added that the only people remaining in the Matia facility now are declared foreigners with pending legal cases.
The Indian Express reported that the pushback policy is not limited to Assam alone but is part of a broader central government strategy targeting foreign nationals across India, with Assam playing a leading role.
The move has sparked serious concerns among human rights activists, as pushbacks without legal due process violate international norms, including the principle of non-refoulement, which protects people from being returned to places where they face danger or persecution.
There are an estimated 40,000 Rohingya refugees in India, of whom around 18,000 are registered with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Many fled to India after Myanmar’s 2017 military crackdown that killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands.
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