Human Rights Watch (HRW) has alleged that Indian authorities have expelled scores of Rohingya people to Bangladesh and Myanmar since May 2025 without providing them with rights protections.

According to the New York-based rights body, Indian authorities have arbitrarily detained several hundred Rohingyas, mistreating some of them in the process.

In May, states governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) began a campaign to expel Rohingya and Bengali-speaking Muslims, labeling them as "illegal immigrants." HRW reported that at least 192 Rohingyas, many of whom were registered with the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), were expelled to Bangladesh.

The organization also said that 40 Rohingyas were forced onto a ship near the Myanmar coast and made to swim ashore. Dozens more fled to Bangladesh to escape the crackdown.

“The Indian government’s expulsion of Rohingya people shows an utter disregard for human life and international law,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “These actions reflect the ruling BJP’s policy of demonising Muslims as ‘illegal’ migrants.”

HRW interviewed nine Rohingya men and women who had recently arrived in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar camps. Six of them, expelled in May, alleged that Indian authorities assaulted them and confiscated their money, mobile phones, and UNHCR registration cards. Three others fled India voluntarily—one each from Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, and Delhi—after police allegedly threatened them with arbitrary detention.

An estimated 40,000 Rohingyas currently live in India, with about 20,000 registered with the UNHCR. While India is not a party to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol, it is bound by the international law principle of nonrefoulement, which prohibits returning people to countries where they face persecution.

In March, the UN special rapporteur expressed concerns to the Indian government about the widespread and indefinite detention of refugees and asylum seekers, including Rohingyas, citing allegations of ill-treatment, lack of medical care, and deportations.

Rohingyas in India previously had limited access to education and livelihoods, but the BJP government changed its policy in 2017, issuing instructions for the deportation of “illegal foreign nationals,” including Rohingyas.

India’s Supreme Court is expected to decide whether Rohingyas are to be considered refugees or illegal entrants, which will determine the rights and protections they may receive. The next hearing is scheduled for September 23. Earlier in May, the court declined to halt deportations and dismissed reports of Rohingyas being abandoned at sea, calling them a “beautifully crafted story.”

HRW has urged the Indian government to immediately end intimidation, arbitrary detention, and expulsions of Rohingyas, and to conduct impartial investigations into allegations of mistreatment. The organization called on Indian authorities to recognize Rohingyas as refugees and to work with the UNHCR to ensure their protection.