UN agency, Rohingya refugees allege Indian authorities cast dozens of them into the sea near Myanmar

NEW DELHI – Indian authorities allegedly forced dozens of Rohingya refugees disconnected a naval vas into the oversea adjacent Myanmar past week aft providing them with beingness jackets, a United Nations agency, household members of the refugees and their lawyer said.

The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, successful a connection connected Thursday, said astatine slightest 40 Rohingya refugees were detained successful New Delhi and formed into the oversea by the Indian navy adjacent the maritime borderline with Myanmar. The refugees — including children, women and older radical — swam ashore, but their whereabouts successful Myanmar stay unknown, the bureau said.

Five Rohingya refugees connected Friday confirmed to the Associated Press that their household members were portion of the radical that were detained by Indian authorities connected May 6. The group, including 15 Christians, were flown successful an craft and aboriginal formed into the oversea by Indian navy authorities connected May 8, they said.

Dilawar Hussain, a lawyer representing the refugees, said the families person filed a petition successful India’s apical court, urging the Indian authorities to bring them backmost to New Delhi.

India’s navy and overseas ministry declined to comment.

In its connection Thursday, the rights bureau said it had appointed a U.N. adept to probe into what it called were “unconscionable, unacceptable acts." The U.N. bureau urged the Indian authorities to refrain from “inhumane and life-threatening attraction of Rohingya refugees, including their repatriation into perilous conditions successful Myanmar.”

Tom Andrews, U.N. Special Rapporteur connected the concern of quality rights successful Myanmar, called the incidental “blatant disregard for the lives and information of those who necessitate planetary protection” and “nothing abbreviated of outrageous.”

“Such cruel actions would beryllium an affront to quality decency and correspond a superior usurpation of the rule of non-refoulment, a cardinal tenet of planetary instrumentality that prohibits states from returning individuals to a territory wherever they look threats to their lives oregon freedom,” Andrews said successful the statement.

India does not person a nationalist argumentation oregon a instrumentality to woody with refugees. It is besides not enactment to the 1951 Refugee Convention oregon its 1967 Protocol. But hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya refugees person fled persecution successful Myanmar aft suffering oppression successful Myanmar’s Rakhine state, wherever officials person been accused of genocide.

According to Refugees International, of the estimated 40,000 Rohingya refugees surviving successful India astatine slightest 22,500 are registered with the UNHCR. Many of them unrecorded successful squalid camps successful assorted Indian states.

One of those refugees, who has not been identified by AP owed to information concerns, said his member was among those returned. He said helium received a telephone from his member connected May 8 aft helium managed to get a telephone from a section fisherman aft making landfall connected an land successful Myanmar.

He told him Indian authorities removed their restraints and blindfolds, gave them beingness jackets and told them aquatics to an land successful Myanmar territory.

“My parents were taken from maine and thrown into the waters,“ said the man, whose 2 brothers, parents and a sister-in-law were portion of the group, according to his brother. ”It would beryllium capable if I americium reunited with my parents. I conscionable privation my parents, thing else.”

Thet Swe, a spokesperson for Myanmar’s military-led government, did not instantly respond to an email asking for comment.

The exile successful India said astir of those returned were registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees successful India and were detained by Indian authorities nether the pretext of collecting their biometric data. He besides shared with the AP pictures of his member portion helium was detained by Indian authorities and taken successful a constabulary vehicle.

AP besides reviewed a signaling of different telephone telephone made by a exile to his member successful New Delhi. The antheral who made the telephone is heard saying immoderate radical from the radical were beaten by Indian navy authorities.

It was not imaginable to independently verify these claims.

In caller years, Rohingya refugees person faced persecution and attacks from India’s Hindu nationalist groups, who person demanded their expulsion from India. Many of them person besides been held successful assorted detention centers crossed India and are viewed arsenic amerciable immigrants. Some person been deported to neighboring Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s authorities implemented a arguable citizenship instrumentality that critics accidental discriminates against Muslim migrants, including Rohingyas.

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Associated Press writers Aijaz Hussain successful Srinagar, India, Rajesh Roy successful New Delhi and David Rising successful Bangkok contributed to this report.

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