21 August 1998, India Abroad
By Vasantha Arora
India is home to over 320,000 refugees, but has no coordinated approach to deal with them or their problems, according to a U.S. report.
Of the total number of refugees in India, 110,000 are from Tibet, 100,000 from Sri Lanka and 40,000 each from Bangladesh and Burma. In addition to these foreigners, India has about 200,000 internally displaced persons, says the report, released by the U.S. Committee for Refugees, a Washington-based nonprofit humanitarian organization.
The report points out that violence in Jammu and Kashmir has displaced an estimated 200,000 Kashmiris, mostly Hindus. Some 13,000 refugees from the Indian side of Kashmir were in Pakistan, the report claimed. It complained that New Delhi’s response to the refugee populations it hosted last year was varied as the refugee groups themselves. The committee has referred to an October report on refugee protection in India by the non-governmental South Asia Human Rights Documentation Center (SAHRDC), which says that “because India has no legal framework for determining refugee status, it deals with refugees on an ad hoc basis, which has led to refugees being used as pawns in regional geopolitics.”
The committee, however, says India has generally permitted refugees to enter its borders. During 1997, for example, it granted entry to more than 2,000 Tibetans. But, it also has, on occasions, prevented refugees from coming in.
In recent years, a report by the U.S. State Department points out, Indian authorities have intercepted boat-loads of Sri Lankan asylum-seekers and returned them to Sri Lanka. India has also periodically pressured Bangladeshi Chakmas and Sri Lankans to repatriate. Some 66,500 Tamil refugees in India live in camps in Tamil Nadu, according to the UNHCR. Many others never moved into camps or
settled there but later left to live among the local population. Estimates of their number vary from 30,000 to 60,000, although 40,000 is the figure most often cited.
The report says some of the refugee camps in India were well maintained, but others were neglected. Shelter and sanitation facilities were inadequate. Indian authorities gave camp residents cash grants and provided them some items at subsidized rates. The refugees were allowed to work, but restrictions on their movement made it difficult for them to keep their jobs.
It says the Indian government keeps the international community at bay regarding refugees on its soil, discourages discussions of refugee issues and bars access to some regions where refugees live.
It does not permit the UNHCR access to most refugees. Of the more than 323,000 refugees in India, only some 18,500 receive UNHCR protection and even they experience many difficulties.