India’s Rohingya refugee children are not criminals

Why in the News?

Recently, tear gas shells were used in an enclosed space in a Rohingyas refugee detention or holding centre in Jammu and there are allegations that the explosion led to death of an infant.

• It reflects the poor treatment of Rohingya refugees who are living in harsh conditions in the detention camps.
• It has been 6 years since Rohingyas fled from Myanmar due to persecution.

Rohingya refugee crisis:

1. The Rohingya people are a Muslim minority group residing in the western state of Rakhine, Myanmar, formerly known as Arrakkan.
2. The Rohingya people are considered "stateless entities", as the Myanmar government does not recognise them as an ethnic group and people of Myanmar.
3. The Myanmar govt. has recognised only Boyingyas i.e., Christians, Sikhs, Jains & Buddhist as the proper Myanmar population.
4. Myanmar military launched a campaign of mass atrocities in 2017 against the Rohingya in Rakhine State due to sectarian issues.
5. The genocidal attacks against the community led to fleeing of more than 7,70,000 Rohingyas from the country.
6. Nearly one million fled to neighbouring Bangladesh and some travelled to Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand 
7. The Rohingya of Myanmar are among the most persecuted people in the world.

Rohingyas in India:

1. Among the total Rohingya refugees, at least 20,000 of them are in India.
2. About 250 Rohingya refugees including women and children are confined to a particular holding centre in Jammu, which was a prison before.
3. Most of the refuges hold UNHCR cards that validate their identity as ‘a refugee seeking safety’.
4. ~500 Rohingya refugees are detained in various detention centres and jails across India. 

India laws lacking safeguards to refugees:

1. India does not have a domestic law or consistent policy on refugees and asylum seekers.
2. India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.
3. India has Foreigner’s Act, 1946 which governs foreigners including refugees who are seen as illegal immigrants.
   • Gives unchecked executive powers against foreigners.
   • There are no exceptions for vulnerable populations such as asylum seekers and refugees.
4. Even registered refugees of UNHCR are at risk of administrative detention under the Foreigners Act under sections dealing with criminal imprisonment and deportation among others.
   • This has led to detention of refugees in Indian jails and detention centres.
   • Many of those held in detention centres are children.
5. India has ratified UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1992.
   • Article 6 of CRC states that every child has an inherent right to life, survival and development.
   • Holding children in detention camps shall result in violation of CRC.
     1. Holding children in detention facilities
     2. Denying them the freedom to access education or any other liberty
     3. It also goes against the right to life and personal liberty enshrined in the Constitution of India including foreigners.
6. Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 which is for children who are in conflict with the law.
   • Rohingya refugee children are not in conflict with the law as they seek safety after fleeing for their lives. 

Way forward:

1. Rohingya children and their primary caregivers have to be released from detention to ensure that Rohingya refugee children do not die in a detention centre and their right to life and development is upheld.
2. Government of India’s internal guidelines (2011) on the detention and treatment of refugees:
   1. This has to be followed for all the other Rohingya refugees in India.
   2. It has provisions for releasing them from detention within six months subject to collection of biometric details, with conditions of local surety, good behaviour and reporting to the police every month.
3. The National Human Rights Commission ahs to work closely with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to appoint an ombudsman who shall be entrusted the duty to investigate refugee detention centres in India.