Bangladesh is currently going through a period of instability. Former PM Sheikh Hasina, who was removed from power, left the country and came to India in view of security. He is here since 5th August. But this arrangement is temporary. In fact, due to not signing the Refugee Convention, India has no formal refugee policy. But the question is that without this, how come we have crores of refugees staying here?
Is there really no refugee policy in the country?
India has always been generous to those who came to take up residence there. People of many other nationalities including Rohingyas are living here. However, it is also true that despite generosity, we did not keep any formal refugee policy. Actually we are not a part of the Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol.
What is 1951 Refugee Convention
After the first and second world wars, crores of people took refuge in other countries. But till then no formal guideline could be made for this. In the year 1951, the League of Nations (now United Nations) did complete work on this and made a refugee policy. Although initially it was limited only to European refugees. Later in the year 1967, a protocol was made, which was applicable to refugees all over the world.
Which countries are not included in this?
According to UNHCR, till now 149 countries have become their part. Apart from India, many South Asian countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia are not participants in it.
Why didn’t we sign?
The then government did not sign the Convention 1951 because they were looking at the instability of the South Asian borders, and did not want the country’s security to be at risk. India’s borders are quite porous anyway, which means that people crossing the border keep on coming and going. In such a situation, even signing the convention meant playing with internal security. At present, India has the right to decide who should be allowed to live and who should not.
When have the refugees been coming?
Although refugees kept coming to the country continuously, but in the year 1971, most of the refugees came to India from Bangladesh. According to an estimate, by the end of that year, 10 million people had come here. There was Indira Gandhi government then. He sought help from the international community to take care of these people and settle them, as was happening in all other countries. Then, after a long period of procrastination, UNHCR provided only $70 million in aid. Let us tell you that the then head of UNHCR was Sadruddin Aga Khan, who had initially clearly refused any help. Even after this, India gave shelter and continued to give shelter.
how many refugees are living there
In the year 2020, the World Health Organization released a global report, in which India was declared the top choice for refugees. Our country is at the top among the three countries of South-East Asia which have given shelter to the maximum number of refugees in this one year. Even the number of migrants is not less here. According to WHO, one out of every eight people in the world is a migrant.
There is no concrete data available on how many refugees we have here.
Different agencies make different claims. Since the nineties, UNHCR has been keeping an eye on how many refugees there are in which country and what conditions they are living in. Refugees are usually registered with the agency. This data is available with UNHCR. But a large number of refugees are living without registration, they have no identity. Many times the allegation was also raised that infiltrators come to India illegally, make documents here and mingle. It is difficult to track this also.
No data found on intruders
In the year 2020, India Today filed an RTI in the Ministry of Home Affairs regarding this. The answer to this was quite vague, due to which it was not clear what would be the actual number of people living illegally. These people hide their identity and blend in in such a way that it cannot be known that they are from outside. Many times there were reports of fake identity cards and other certificates being kept.
What action can we take against those coming for asylum?
India has the option as to what it should decide regarding the refugees. Since this is not part of the policy, if the government identifies that a person has entered the country without documents, then he can be arrested under the Foreigners Act. If proven guilty, the punishment can range from 3 months to 8 years. Besides, action can also be taken to send him back to his country. This can be applicable in the case of refugees from any country but the government does not take action until someone creates a problem.
Recently, the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 came into force in India, which talks about giving citizenship to refugees due to discrimination on the basis of religion. This is a kind of domestic refugee policy.