India should stop deporting people to Bangladesh without due process, says human rights group
The organisation said that the government should instead 'ensure everyone's access to procedural safeguards to protect against arbitrary detention and expulsion'.
Since the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, the police in several states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party have been detaining Bengali-speaking persons – mostly Muslims – and asking them to prove that they are Indian citizens.
Several persons have been forced into Bangladesh after they allegedly could not prove their Indian citizenship. In some cases, individuals who were mistakenly sent to Bangladesh returned to the country after state authorities in India proved that they were Indians.
Indian authorities have not provided official data on the total number of expulsions till now. However, the Border Guards Bangladesh has alleged that over 1,500 persons have been forced into Bangladesh from May 7 to June 15.
Elaine Person, the Asia director at Human Rights Watch, alleged that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in India was 'fueling discrimination by arbitrarily expelling Bengali Muslims from the country, including Indian citizens'.
She added: 'The authorities' claims that they are managing irregular immigration are unconvincing given their disregard for due process rights, domestic guarantees, and international human rights standards.'
Human Rights Watch said that India is bound by international treaties to protect human rights and 'to prevent deprivation of citizenship on the basis of race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin'. Detaining and expelling people without due process violates these obligations, the NGO said.
The group also urged authorities to prevent the use of excessive force, investigate abuses by security forces, and provide proper food, shelter and medical care for those detained.
In May, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs directed the states and Union Territories to verify the credentials of persons suspected to be undocumented migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar.
On July 19, the police in Gurugram detained at least 74 migrant workers on the suspicion that they were from Bangladesh, The Wire reported. Of these, 11 were from West Bengal and 63 from Assam.
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