Indian authorities have expelled more than 1,500 ethnic Bengali Muslims and Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh since May without due process, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a new report. Many of those deported were Indian citizens, primarily impoverished Muslim migrants from Assam and West Bengal, forcibly removed under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government’s push to expel alleged “illegal immigrants.”
The expulsions, occurring in BJP-ruled states such as Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan, followed a Ministry of Home Affairs directive urging states to identify and deport undocumented individuals within 30 days. HRW says the crackdown escalated after an April attack on Hindu pilgrims in Kashmir, prompting authorities to round up Bengali-speaking Muslims, often without verifying their citizenship.
The New York based international organization has documented 18 cases, including that of Khairul Islam, a schoolteacher from Assam, who was allegedly beaten and forced into Bangladesh by India’s Border Security Force (BSF) on May 26 despite having a citizenship appeal pending before the Supreme Court. Many similar expulsions occurred through midnight “pushbacks” at gunpoint.
Bangladeshi officials have protested the expulsions, labeling them “unacceptable,” and stressed that only verified nationals should be repatriated through legal procedures.
The crackdown has also targeted Rohingya refugees. In one case, Indian authority reportedly forced 40 Rohingya into the sea near Myanmar, violating the international principle of nonrefoulement, which prohibits returning individuals to places where they risk persecution.
In Gujarat, authorities demolished over 10,000 homes and detained thousands, allegedly targeting Bengali-speaking Muslim neighborhoods under suspicion of harboring “Bangladeshi infiltrators.” In Maharashtra and Rajasthan, internal migrants from West Bengal were detained and deported until state intervention confirmed their Indian citizenship.
Human rights advocates and lawyers say the lack of transparency, denial of legal representation, and ex parte decisions from Assam’s Foreigners Tribunals have left thousands at risk. Many detainees have pending appeals, yet were expelled before courts could decide their fate.
UN human rights experts and Indian civil society groups have condemned the government’s actions as discriminatory and unlawful, warning that they risk undermining India’s legal obligations and historic tradition of offering refuge to persecuted communities.
HRW has called on India to halt the expulsions, ensure due process, and investigate allegations of abuse by security forces.