Refugees in India

Since its independence in 1947, India has welcomed many groups of people who had to leave their homes. These include people from places that are now Pakistan and Bangladesh after the partition, Tibetan people who arrived in 1959, and others from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar. By 2021, there were thousands of refugees living in special camps in India.

Tibetan refugee self-help center in Darjeeling, West Bengal

India does not have a special law just for refugees, but it has always tried to treat them kindly. Leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru said that refugees should be welcomed and helped until it is safe for them to go home. Even without a special law, India's highest court has said that the government must protect refugees' rights.

Even though India is not part of an international agreement about refugees from 1951, it still works to help them through government decisions and special services. Refugees in India are treated similarly to visitors from other countries, following rules set in a law from 1946.

History

For many centuries, the Indian subcontinent has welcomed people who had to leave their homes because they were being treated badly in their own countries.

One such group was the Parsis, a Zoroastrian community. They moved to the area now known as Gujarat long ago, between the 12th and 16th centuries, to escape unfair treatment by rulers who followed Islam. Later, more Zoroastrians came from Iran, called Iranis, when they faced trouble under the rulers there in the 1800s and early 1900s. When India became independent, these groups became legal citizens of India.

Legal framework

Citizenship

India’s rules about who can become a citizen are found in the Citizenship Act. This act was created in 1955 and has been changed several times since then. It helps decide who is officially an Indian citizen.

There is a list called the National Register of Citizens, which includes the names of people who are citizens, especially in the state of Assam. This list was first made after a count of people in 1951 but wasn’t updated until a court ordered it in 2013. Now, different parts of India are working on updating this list for everyone.

Legal refugees

India’s rules for citizenship mainly look at whether your parents or grandparents were citizens, not just where you were born. Over the years, India has given special help to refugees from Tibet and Sri Lanka. They receive free schooling and documents to prove who they are.

In 2019, a new law was passed that would allow people from some nearby countries, like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, to become Indian citizens more easily if they belong to certain groups. However, this law does not apply to everyone, and some people are worried that it leaves out others, like people from Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan.

Illegal migrants

People who are in India without the right papers are called illegal immigrants. India does not consider these people to be refugees. Because India did not agree to a worldwide rule about protecting refugees, illegal immigrants can be sent back to their home countries. There are laws that let the government hold and send away people who enter India without permission. Some people worry that illegal immigrants might cause safety problems, especially in certain areas. The government says it wants to send illegal immigrants back to where they came from fairly.

Religious refugees

Afghanistan

Today, there are around 8,000 to 11,684 Afghan refugees in India, most of whom follow Islam or Sikhism. The Indian government has allowed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in India to help them. In 2015, India gave citizenship to 4,300 Hindu and Sikh refugees. Most were from Afghanistan, and some were from Pakistan.

Bangladesh

Many people from East Bengal, mainly Hindus, moved to West Bengal during the partition of India in 1947. From 1947 to 1961, the number of Hindus in East Bengal dropped from 30% to 19%. In 1991, it was down to 10.5%. The number kept falling, reaching 9.2% in 2001 and 8% in 2008.

Chakmas are a Buddhist community from Bangladesh. They moved to the southern part of Mizoram because a big dam was built on the Karnaphuli River in 1962, and they did not receive help to rebuild their lives. Because of this, they left Bangladesh and settled in India.

In 2001, the BBC reported that many Bangladeshi Hindu families had come to India to escape unfair treatment in Bangladesh because they belonged to smaller religious groups.

Pakistan

Partition of India

After the partition of India, many people moved between the two new countries, India and Pakistan, for several months. About 14.5 million people moved from one country to the other to find safety. Based on the 1951 census, 7.226 million Muslims moved from India to Pakistan, while 7.249 million Hindus and Sikhs moved from Pakistan to India. Most of these people crossed the western border, making up 78% of all the people who moved. Many travelled through Punjab.

Tibetan woman in an Indian refugee camp

Recent arrivals

People who are not Muslims face unfair treatment and laws in Pakistan. Because of this, Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan have asked for safety in India; many have arrived in the 21st century. There are almost 400 settlements for Pakistani Hindu refugees in Indian cities.

Tibet

Many religious refugees come from Tibet. The 14th Dalai Lama, a leader of the Tibetan people, left Tibet for India after an uprising in 1959. He was followed by about 80,000 Tibetan refugees. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru agreed to let Tibetan refugees live in India until they could return home. The Tibetan community in exile has a government called the Central Tibetan Administration, based in McLeod Ganj, a part of Dharamshala, Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh. This group helps organize political activities for Tibetans living in India.

In 1960, the government of Mysore State (now Karnataka) gave nearly 3,000 acres (12 km²) of land at Bylakuppe in Mysore district to Tibetan refugees. In 1961, the first Tibetan settlement in India, called Lugsung Samdupling, was created. A few years later, another settlement called Tibetan Dickey Larsoe (TDL) was started. Three more settlements were built in Karnataka: Rabgayling in Gurupura village near Hunsur, Dhondenling near Kollegal, and Doeguling at Mundgod in Uttara Kannada. Because of these settlements, Karnataka has the largest Tibetan refugee population in India. As of 2020, Karnataka has 12 schools for and run by the Tibetan community.

Other states have also given land for Tibetans. Bir Tibetan Colony is a settlement in Bir, Himachal Pradesh. Jeerango in Gajapati district, Odisha, has a large Tibetan community and South Asia's largest Buddhist monastery.

The government of India has built special schools for Tibetans, offering free education, healthcare, and scholarships for students who do well in school. A few medical and engineering university spots are reserved for Tibetans.

Tibetans in India have a document called the Registration Certificate (RC), which they must renew every year or half-year, depending on where they live. Every Tibetan refugee over 16 must register for it. Another document, the Indian Identity Certificate, called “Yellow Books,” allows Tibetans to travel outside India. It is given one year after an RC is issued.

Citizenship Amendment Act 2019

The Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019, passed on December 11, 2019, offers a way to become an Indian citizen for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who faced unfair treatment because of their religion and arrived in India before December 31, 2014. Refugees from these groups who arrived after that date must live in India for at least 5 years before they can become citizens.

The Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 became law on January 10, 2020, though the exact rules have not yet been set as of January 11, 2020.

Refugees facing ethnic persecution

Ugandans of Indian-origin expelled in 1972

Main article: Expulsion of Asians from Uganda

In 1972, many people from India living in Uganda were told to leave their homes. This happened because the leader of Uganda, Idi Amin, asked almost 80,000 people from India to leave the country. Many of these people had moved to Uganda after facing trouble in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Those who practiced Indic religions, like Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs, were welcomed as refugees in India.

Expelled Asians in the Netherlands after leaving Uganda, 1972

Sri Lankan Tamils

Main articles: Sri Lankan Tamils in India and Sri Lankan Civil War

Over 100,000 people from Sri Lanka, called Tamils, now live in India. They moved mainly during a long and difficult time in Sri Lanka known as the Sri Lankan Civil War, which lasted from 1983 to 2009. Most of these Tamils live in southern India, in places like Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, as well as Bengaluru in Karnataka and Kerala.

Demography

Immigration of Afghan, Bangladeshi and Pakistani, Hindus and Sikhs into India

Hindu and Sikh refugees coming to India during partition

Many people from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan have come to live in India. Some of these people are from Hindu and Sikh communities who left their homes due to unsafe conditions. For example, many Bangladeshi Hindus have moved to states like West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, and Meghalaya between 1964 and 2013. Also, about 5,000 Hindus from Pakistan come to India every year as refugees.

In Afghanistan, most of the Hindu and Sikh people left the country during difficult times in the 1990s. By 2020, only a small number remained.

Hindu and Sikh refugees in Indian refugee camp

Projections

Some experts think that between 2020 and 2050, many Hindus may continue to move from Bangladesh and Pakistan to India each year.