Reports of Indian navy forcing Rohingyas into sea ‘unconscionable’: UN

GENEVA: A UN expert said on Thursday he was investigating “credible reports” that Rohingya refugees were forced off an Indian navy vessel into the Andaman Sea, in what would be an “unconscionable” act.

“The idea that Rohingya refugees have been cast into the sea from naval vessels is nothing short of outrageous,” said Tom Andrews, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights situation in Myanmar.

“I am seeking further information and testimony regarding these developments and implore the Indian government to provide a full accounting of what happened.”

Andrews, who is an independent expert mandated by the UN Human Rights Council but who does not speak on behalf of the UN itself, said he was “deeply concerned by what appears to be a blatant disregard for the lives and safety of those who require international protection”. The mostly Muslim Rohingya have been heavily persecuted in Myanmar for decades.

One million Rohingya live in a string of squalid camps in Bangladesh after escaping a 2017 military crackdown in Myanmar. Thousands of them risk their lives each year on long sea journeys to seek refuge elsewhere.

Andrews´ statement pointed to reports that Indian authorities last week detained dozens of Rohingya refugees living in Delhi, “many or all of whom held refugee identification documents”. Around 40 members of the group were reportedly blindfolded and flown to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and then transferred to an Indian naval ship, he said.