Faded faces, dirt around the collars, in the filthy environment, watery eyes-pale glancing; they surrounded us with their existence. We were in the middle of a refugee camp (Bantalab, Jammu, India) when we came to know exactly we are at the right place; for which we were striving to know and understand the life the refugees are living. The beams of the afternoon sun scattered on our front (face) while we introduced ourselves before a group of men and women living as refugees since 2017. The smell of poverty, suffering, hunger besieged our head. The outcry of newborns obstructed our concentration which stood heeding to the replies to those questions we posed to family heads.

These refugees are the minority Rohingya group; the Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic minority group who have lived for centuries in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar – formerly known as Burma. They are not recognised as an official ethnic group over their land. According to UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR); In August 2017, armed attacks, massive scale violence, and serious human rights violations forced thousands of Rohingya to flee their homes in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Many walked for days through forests and undertook dangerous sea journeys across the Bay of Bengal to reach safety in Bangladesh. Nearly 8,90,000 have found safety in the Cox Bazar region of Bangladesh which is now home to the world’s largest refugee camp. The United Nations has described the Rohingya as “the most persecuted minority in the world.” Also, it becomes the world’s largest stateless population. As a stateless population, Rohingya families are denied basic rights and protection and are extremely vulnerable to exploitation, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and abuse.
The same fiction was sniffed by Mohammad Mustafa, living as a refugee in a small camp in Jammu (India), with whom we interacted thoroughly. Mustafa told us that not only in 2017, back in 1990 we have once runoff from Burma (now Myanmar) to Bangladesh and eased back to our homeland (as he described) in the confidence of normality. In 2017 when we reached Bangladesh, the government of the territory also ill-treated us and consequently, some of us fled to Delhi (India) where we had heeded some of our clans reside already. We travelled mostly by foot, without food bonding our stomachs and thirst reaching the mark. We suffered, we are homeless far from our homeland, complained Mustafa in the motion of non-confidence. We expect basic rights from the countries where we obtained asylum, that is it.
Refugees are people who have been forced to leave their home country due to war, persecution, or natural disasters. They flee their country to seek safety and protection in another country.
In 1959, dictatorship rule was experienced by many Tibetans as a result of Chinese invasion in Tibet and within that same year, the doors were opened to India for refugees which included the Dalai Lama. They were given both land to live on and an opportunity to learn and the means to keep up their culture when provided with all these facilities by India. For example, in 1971 during Bangladesh liberation war, about one crore refugees from East Pakistan had no option other than seeking refuge in India to escape from the atrocities committed by Pakistani .The year 1947 saw the largest mass displacement of people when India was partitioned resulting into millions of movement between newly formed India and newly formed Pakistan following massive violence during that time.
India has in the last few years hosted Sri Lankan Tamils and Afghan refugees who escaped from conflict now lasting several decades in Afghanistan and Rohingyas escaping genocide in Myanmar.
Over time, India has always been a sanctuary for people running away persecution or wars. Nevertheless, despite this background, for numerous current refugees living in India today there is hardship , neglect and misjudgments . Being unrecognized legally as well as facing countless challenges; they experience poverty, live under poor conditions while having no access to some basic human rights due to systemic barriers .
This article delves into the plight of refugees in India highlighting their miserable conditions, lack of rights and protection. This country has always been at the forefront in offering sanctuary to those who are persecuted in their countries, those that come from conflict zones or those displaced by natural disasters from other parts of the world. Since time immemorial, people of various regions have sought asylum in South Asia and the subcontinent has embraced Zoroastrians, Tibetans and Refugees from Myanmar ‘(Rohingya’) as well as from Afghanistan. However, India does not have any legal rights for refugees yet, instead they are treated differently depending on the group they belong to, which raises a lot of issues and challenges.
Tibetans, Sri Lankans, Afghanis, Burmese , Sudanese and Syrians are refugees found in India. Four different groups of refugees used to live in different parts of the world, yet their experiences from their homelands seem to reflect a similar pattern of hardship and scarcity. Refugees are one group that has no legal status like many Asian countries there is no refugee law in India thereby they fall under Immigration laws which does not offer any kind of protection or provision.
Refugees don’t have any other Refugee-specific status that can be used to qualify their plight. In these cases they are referred to as normal outdated categories of illegal migrants or people without any nationality, who do not have rights enjoyed by customary civilized citizens or legally recognized statuses of a refugee. Lack of recognition means no identification document thus hindering access to such public services like health care , education and employment.
For instance Burmese Rohingya needing international protection are termed as immigrants of an unlawful type despite the fact that they were runaway victims of ethnic cleansing back in Myanmar. They cannot get legalized jobs, even when they show an international passport it makes them prone for being imprisoned and deported out. Most refugees in this situation struggle to find employment, or they can only secure low-paying, informal jobs that are often exploitative and abusive.
From an economic and social perspective, the living conditions of refugees in India are truly shocking. The majority of them reside in overcrowded makeshift camps that lack basic housing facilities. Clean water is scarce, sanitation is inadequate, and there is a complete absence of electricity supply. These conditions expose people to various diseases, which can quickly turn into epidemics. For instance, refugee camps along the Thai border, housing those who fled Burma, have unfortunately become death traps due to outbreaks of diseases like cholera and dysentery, among other infectious ailments. In cities like Delhi, Chennai, or Jammu, where these settlements have been established, they are often situated far away from public utilities and job opportunities.
Let’s take a closer look at the Rohingyas who have settled outside Jammu city. Here, hundreds of families are living together under a single roof, constructed mainly from wooden sticks and plastic sheets for walls. The shelters offer nothing before the onslaught of sun or rain, and can be easily washed away with a little effort. Fire is another big hazard in such settlements, which can be triggered by a stray spark. Meanwhile in Delhi, the majority of the Afghan refugees live in poorly constructed buildings in NarainaVihar, where they don’t even have access to clean toilets. The open drains breed diseases and the area turns into a stinking landfill during rain and financial distress is a universal phenomenon among the refugees in India. Not having the legal permission to earn and earn for their livelihood forces refugees in India to be dependent on informal and low paid economic activities. They are compelled to work in the informal sector with no job security or legal protection which makes them vulnerable to various forms of exploitation and abuse.
For instance, a majority of the Rohingya refugees in India are engaged in rag-picking, construction labour or as domestic helps. These activities are not only physically strenuous and ill-paid but also involve gruesome working conditions. Not having legal access to earn also means that the refugees in India do not have access to benefits of social security or rights of labour and are stuck in poverty with no hope for dignity and respect.
In India, the refugees have only token access to education and healthcare. Schools ask parents for documents but many of them don’t have papers, so the kids can’t go to school. Thus, such kids of immigrants will collide with real barriers on the road to education, which will limit their professional opportunities and increase the poverty in their families.
Also, access to healthcare is a major problem. Oftentimes refugees can visit NGOs and attend community clinics to receive basic medical attention. Nonetheless, such facilities always seem to be impoverished and cannot afford to pay for comprehensive medical care for the entire refugee community. The lack of health services is even more serious for the most vulnerable groups like women, children, and old people, who may be in need of particular medical treatment that is not found in their settlements.
In India the refugees live in shocking conditions, this is the continuation of the hardships they faced in their homelands. Many families who were fleeing wars, ethnic atrocities, as well as human rights violations, have faced even worse in India, enduring new torture and suffering in this country.
Refugees in India at the moment have managed to flee some of the most severe human rights violations in the world. For example, Rohingyas were driven out from Myanmar to India because of the systematic ethnic cleansing and state backed genocide. Of course, Afghan refugees are not included in the list of the shell-shocked people who will benefit from this deal, but Afghan asylum seekers and Afghan refugees, who are always the most vulnerable and neglected, are today still non-citizens who are often seen as foreign newcomers as if they do not have contributions to their new communities in India. This is very unfair, and it’s a reminder of the global community’s incompetence.
Against the backdrop of their country, they are in the category of extraordinary people who, despite being such atrocity’s children and victims, have still managed to make their way in this life. The release of Rohingya refugees into India is the result of Myanmar’s forcible conduct towards the people in question, which is attempting to create ethnic cleansing and committing genocide. In the same way, every time the Afghan citizens were beaten by the Taliban or other militants in the combat zones, African refugees in Kenya incurred similar injuries. All the life there that is killed, disrupted, and thrown to the wind is because of fights over the power of this or that group.
They leave their home country under compulsion, sometimes carrying only the clothes they have on. Also the trip to India is full of risks like human trafficking, violence, and exploitation. Refugees often come to the country traumatized and in need of immediate help but unfortunately, they are left to continue with struggle alone.
The legal less final situation of refugees in their home countries indicates that they become stateless. As a result, they go beyond losing basic rights and protections. People without nationality cannot obtain citizenship, buy their own pieces of land, or receive government aid. So, in their lives, there are many uncertainties. This is also the same situation in India, where they are not recognized or receive any rights and no help.
Being stateless in relation to Myanmar and India is the problem that the Rohingyas face. The situation does not allow them to integrate themselves and live through normal lives. Additionally, not having citizenship rights leaves them behind from being educated, utilized healthcare, and being in legal jobs. This situation not only leaves them on the edge but also puts them at risk.
The treatment of refugees In India reflects a broader neglect and injustice that exacerbates their suffering. Despite their need for protection and support, refugees are often ignored or mistreated by authorities and society at large.
Refugees don’t have enough legal protections. Bad people can easily use and hurt them. Many refugees suffer because they are made to work a lot, face sexual violence, and are traded like objects. This is made worse because they can’t get help from the law.
Moreover, lady refugees are at high risk of being sexually used and hurt. Women in refugee camps are often forced to do sex jobs or suffer inside their homes, and they can’t get help from the law . This makes their living even worse and takes away their self-respect and health.
Helping refugees in India needs a plan that understands their special needs. We need rules and policies to give them rights and keep them safe. We also need to make sure they can get basic help, to keep them safe from being used, and have chances to join society.
India needs a law for people who ran away from their home countries. This law will give them legal standing and say what they can and cannot do. It should also give them papers, permission to work, and help from the government. This way, they can use services and make a good life.
We need to help refugees to have better homes, toilets, and roads. We can do this by working with groups and the government to make refugee places better. Making sure refugees have safe and good living places is very important for their health and being a part of the community.
Rules should be made to make sure that refugees can go to school and get healthcare. Giving extra help for education and health that fits the needs of refugees can make their lives and future better.
To stop hate and fear against different people, we need to tell everyone how to treat others fairly.. Talking about how refugees help us and join us can make people less mean and help all of us get along.
It Is very essential to be in cooperation with others so that when it’s safe, Refugees can go back in their own place with pride and free them from harm.

Email:-------------mirtajamulislam2@gmail.com / bashikhannn22@gmail.com