Seven years ago, on 25 August 2017, some 700,000 Rohingya men, women and children were forced to flee Myanmar and seek protection (Source: UNHCR)
Geneva: A United Nations committee on racial discrimination has flagged grave concern over the significant increase in police action and state-administered violence against Rohingya refugees, Bengali-speaking Muslims and Dalits in India.
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) on Monday, August 25, issued its findings on four countries, including India and Kuwait, after reviewing them in its latest session.
The committee said it was “gravely concerned” about reports of large-scale violations perpetrated by law enforcement officials against the broader minority groups of India: ethnic and ethno-religious groups, indigenous and tribal people, including Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes, particularly Dalits, and non-citizens or foreigners.
According to the findings, the violations include racially motivated violence, excessive use of force, extrajudicial killings or encounters, arbitrary and prolonged detention without due process, torture, ill-treatment and sexual violence by law enforcement officials.
The UN watchdog called on India to conduct prompt, thorough and impartial investigations to ensure accountability for those responsible for the alleged crimes.
The committee also highlighted the relentless targeting of Rohingyas, Bengali-speaking Muslims, migrants and asylum-seekers through law enforcement operations following the 2017 Home Affairs order and the 2025 Pahalgam attack in Kashmir.
It observed that following the Kashmir attack, police identity checks involving racial profiling reportedly resulted in arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and ill-treatment. The UN body expressed concern over deportations and forcible returns of people in need of protection, stating it constitutes a violation of international law.
The committee called on India to “urgently address discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes against Rohingya, Bengali-speaking Muslims, migrants and asylum-seekers,” refrain from expulsions and protect their rights.
It urged India to ensure affected individuals’ access to international protection in line with the principle of non-refoulement, a core international law forbidding a country from deporting any person to any country where their life or freedom is threatened based on race, religion, nationality or association with a group.
The Centre has not yet reacted to the report.
This post was last modified on August 25, 2026 5:23 pm