In a development that has drawn global condemnation, Indian authorities have allegedly deported 43 Rohingya refugees—including women, children, and the elderly—by casting them into the Andaman Sea near Myanmar's maritime border. The incident reportedly occurred on May 8, the same day India’s Solicitor General assured the Supreme Court that all deportations would follow due legal process.
According to multiple testimonies and rights groups, the refugees were loaded onto a naval vessel from New Delhi and later forced to swim to shore with only life jackets. Eyewitnesses and family members say the group included 15 Rohingya Christians, who face double persecution—first as an ethnic minority targeted by Myanmar’s military regime and again as religious minorities within the largely Muslim Rohingya community.
The United Nations has called for an urgent investigation into the “credible and deeply disturbing” reports. “The idea that Rohingya refugees have been cast into the sea from naval vessels is nothing short of outrageous,” said Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar. He urged the Indian government to halt “inhumane and life-threatening” deportations and to ensure transparency and accountability in its refugee policy.
The group of 40, though feared lost, managed to reach Myanmar’s shores and are reportedly under the care of the National Unity Government, Myanmar’s shadow administration formed after the 2021 military coup. Contact was established when one of the deportees borrowed a phone from a local fisherman.
Legal experts and refugee advocates say India’s actions violate both international human rights norms and its constitutional guarantees. Colin Gonsalves, a senior advocate representing Rohingya petitioners before the Indian Supreme Court, criticized the deportations as “one of the most barbaric practices a nation can indulge in.” He said his legal bid to pause the deportations was rejected by the court.
The People’s Union for Civil Liberties, a prominent Indian rights group, condemned the move, stating that “even under Indian law, refugees are entitled to due process,” including notice, legal representation, and a hearing.
Mass detentions of Muslims labeled as "Rohingya" or "Bangladeshi" have surged across several BJP-ruled Indian states, particularly in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Although many were eventually identified as Indian citizens and released, hundreds with valid refugee papers were expelled without explanation.
“I lost my entire family in one night,” said David Nazir, a Rohingya refugee in Delhi. “My elderly parents were taken away by the police. I found out they were thrown into the sea only when another deportee managed to call us from Myanmar.”
Critics say these actions expose the Indian government’s disregard for humanitarian principles, especially as international parallels are drawn to the controversial U.S. deportations of Indian nationals under the Trump administration.
India, which is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, has yet to respond officially to the accusations or to requests for comment from international bodies and media outlets.
As the world watches with growing alarm, the incident marks a chilling escalation in the treatment of refugees in South Asia—turning political refugees into pawns in a geopolitical game, with human lives left adrift.
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