In Human Interest https://forceindia.net/guest-column/in-human-interest-feb-2023/
Democracy is threatened when refugees are targeted by right wing political agenda
Nandita Haksar
The government of India has stopped giving residential permits to even those refugees recognised by the UNHCR, a majority of these refugees do not have residential permits or long-term visas. As a result, they cannot apply for Aadhaar cards, which means they cannot open a bank account. Many of those who received financial support from friends abroad now cannot receive any money. They cannot get their children admitted to schools or get work. ..
The stand of the government of India is that there are no refugees in India, only illegal migrants. The fear psychosis has been fuelled by the media, which says that India is being infiltrated by foreigners and that the refugees are a security threat to the country. Some Security Council resolutions on terrorism make express reference to refugees and talk about the need for states to ensure the asylum process does not accommodate terrorists...
In India the issue of migrants has taken centre stage with the controversies surrounding the National Register for Citizens and amendments to the Citizenship Act in 2019. In those controversies the issue of refugee protection got lost in the debates around illegal migration. It is also true that this legal distinction between the refugee and the migrant is not always clear. But that is not an argument to abolish the category of refugees, rather there is a need to rethink these definitions.
The National Human Rights Commission is at present engaged in drafting a law to protect refugees in India and Shashi Tharoor has introduced a private members bill in Parliament on the subject. It is essential that the refugee protection law passed in India protects all refugees irrespective of their religion or community.
When refugees become targets of right-wing political agenda there is a danger to democracy and democratic values. Refugee protection is rooted in the idea of human solidarity and it is central to human civilisation.