For many Rohingya refugee families living in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, the sacred month of Ramadan has unfolded under the shadow of detention, separation, and deep uncertainty. Instead of gathering for nightly iftar meals and communal prayers, dozens of families remain divided by detention walls, reflecting the broader human-rights crisis facing Rohingya refugees across South Asia.
More than 250 Rohingya refugees continue to be held in detention following a series of police operations launched in 2021 aimed at identifying undocumented migrants in the Jammu region. According to local media reports, the detainees are confined at a holding facility in Hiranagar, located in Kathua district, near the India-Pakistan border.
The Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority from Myanmar, were forced to flee their homeland after the Myanmar military’s brutal campaign in 2017 that drove more than 700,000 people into exile, primarily to Bangladesh. That mass displacement—widely documented by international investigators as involving atrocities against civilians—created one of the world’s largest stateless refugee populations.
While the majority of Rohingya refugees remain 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 such as the Narwal refugee camp, working in low-wage labor sectors while awaiting legal recognition or protection.
However, beginning in 2021, Indian authorities launched a verification campaign targeting undocumented migrants in Jammu, leading to the detention of hundreds of Rohingya residents accused of lacking valid travel or residency documents. The policy has left many families fragmented between detention centers and refugee settlements.
For many households, the consequences have been devastating.
In some cases, parents remain behind bars while their children struggle to survive in camps under the care of elderly relatives. In others, minors themselves have reportedly been detained while parents remain outside—deepening the emotional and economic strain faced by already vulnerable refugee families.
One such case involves Mohammad Shah and his wife Bibi Zareen, who were detained in 2021. Their three children are now cared for by their 72-year-old grandmother, Fathima, who reportedly survives by begging in neighborhoods surrounding the Narwal and Bathindi settlements in order to provide food for the children.
Another Rohingya detainee, Abul Hussain, left behind five children after his wife died in 2021. The family remains in the Narwal camp, where the eldest son has reportedly begun collecting plastic waste from the Jammu railway station to support his younger siblings.
Members of the Rohingya refugee community say many detainees have remained in custody for years not because of criminal charges, but because families lack the financial resources to pursue legal appeals or documentation processes. Statelessness has effectively trapped many Rohingya in prolonged administrative detention with limited legal pathways to release.
Human-rights advocates warn that such prolonged detention practices raise serious concerns under international refugee and humanitarian law, particularly when they involve stateless persons and minors.
The situation in Jammu has also become increasingly politicized. Several Hindu nationalist groups and political organizations have called for the deportation of Rohingya refugees, arguing that undocumented migrants could pose security risks in the sensitive border region.
Yet rights advocates and refugee protection experts caution that the Rohingya’s stateless status makes deportation legally and ethically complex. Myanmar has not created conditions for safe return, and international observers warn that forced repatriation could expose refugees to renewed persecution.
Analysts say the situation highlights a wider regional policy gap in addressing the Rohingya crisis. While neighboring countries have hosted displaced populations on humanitarian grounds, 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 durable 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, the reality of Ramadan this year is not one of spiritual renewal but of anxious waiting—hoping that the separation of parents and children will one day end.
