Amnesty International called for the Indian government to stop its unlawful deportation of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, in a statement released on Thursday. This follows reports of the government deporting refugees and forcing them across the Bangladesh border over recent months.

Aakar Patel, the chairman of Amnesty International India, stated: “Recent allegations of deportations from the country must be urgently, independently and transparently investigated. India must ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention and bring national laws in line with international obligations on refugee protection.”

This comes after years of forced deportations of Rohingyas, including 40 refugees in Delhi, who were sent to a naval vessel and then released into the water with life-jackets near the coast of Myanmar. Pleas to the Supreme Court have been dismissed, as the court termed the Rohingyas to be foreigners, and refused to put a stay on deportations. Several Rohingyas were also kept under indefinite detention in Assam.

Rohingya refugees have been entering India since 2017, with an estimated 40,000 refugees fleeing to India following persecution by the Myanmar government. However, Rohingya refugees have never received official refugee status from the Indian government. Further, the government has also submitted to the Supreme Court that it does not recognize the UNHRC refugee cards held by Rohingyas, and will continue to treat them under the jurisdiction of the Foreigners Act.

India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention. This stance indicates a marked change in previous policy, as India has hosted a large number of refugees in the past, including Tibetans and Sri Lankan Tamils. As per Amnesty International, despite not being a signatory under international conventions, India still has obligations under the customary international law principle of non-refoulement, to avoid sending people back to locations where there is a serious threat of human rights violations.