Rohingya Detention in Jammu: Ramadan & Rights Fears

For many Rohingya refugee families in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, the month of Ramadan is marked by detention, separation, and uncertainty. Dozens of families remain divided by detention walls as a broader human-rights crisis continues to affect Rohingya refugees across South Asia.

Rohingya Refugees Detained in Jammu and Kashmir

More than 250 Rohingya refugees are currently held in detention following police operations launched in 2021 to identify undocumented migrants in the Jammu region. Detainees are confined to a holding facility in Hiranagar, Kathua district, near the India-Pakistan border, according to local media reports.

The Rohingya are a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority from Myanmar who were forced to flee their homeland after a brutal military campaign in 2017. This campaign drove over 700,000 people into exile, primarily to Bangladesh, and was widely documented by international investigators as involving atrocities against civilians.

While the majority of Rohingya refugees reside in crowded camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar region, smaller communities have sought refuge in neighboring countries, including India. In Jammu, many Rohingya families had lived for years in informal settlements, working in low-wage labor sectors while awaiting legal recognition or protection.

Beginning in 2021, Indian authorities initiated a verification campaign targeting undocumented migrants in Jammu, resulting in the detention of hundreds of Rohingya residents accused of lacking valid travel or residency documents. This policy has fragmented many families, separating them between detention centers and refugee settlements.

The consequences for these households have been devastating. In some instances, parents are detained while their children are cared for by elderly relatives. Minors themselves have reportedly been detained while their parents remain outside, increasing the emotional and economic strain on vulnerable families.

Mohammad Shah and his wife, Bibi Zareen, were detained in 2021, leaving their three children in the care of their 72-year-old grandmother, Fathima, who reportedly survives by begging to provide for them. Abul Hussain, another detainee, left behind five children after his wife died in 2021. The family remains in the Narwal camp, where the eldest son collects plastic waste from the Jammu railway station to support his siblings.

Members of the Rohingya refugee community state that many detainees have been held for years not due to criminal charges, but because they lack the financial means to pursue legal appeals or documentation. Statelessness has effectively trapped many Rohingya in prolonged administrative detention with limited legal pathways to release.

Human-rights advocates warn that prolonged detention raises concerns under international refugee and humanitarian law, especially concerning stateless persons and minors. The situation in Jammu has also become increasingly politicized, with Hindu nationalist groups and political organizations calling for the deportation of Rohingya refugees, citing potential security risks in the border region.

However, rights advocates and refugee protection experts caution that the Rohingya’s stateless status complicates deportation legally and ethically. Myanmar has not created conditions for safe return, and forced repatriation could expose refugees to renewed persecution, according to international observers.

Analysts say the situation highlights a wider regional policy gap in addressing the Rohingya crisis. While neighboring countries have hosted displaced populations, few have developed long-term legal frameworks to protect Rohingya refugees or integrate them into host societies.

Nearly a decade after the mass displacement from Myanmar, the continued detention of Rohingya refugees across parts of South Asia underscores the unresolved nature of the crisis. Without political solutions—including accountability for atrocities in Myanmar, safe conditions for repatriation, and international burden-sharing—stateless Rohingya communities remain vulnerable to detention, exploitation, and political scapegoating.

For many Rohingya families in Jammu, Ramadan this year is not a time of spiritual renewal, but one of anxious waiting for the separation of parents and children to end.