A United Nations racial discrimination committee has raised concerns over what it said was a rise in law enforcement operations targeting Rohingya and Bengali-speaking Muslims in India, warning that racial profiling had reportedly led to arbitrary detention and mistreatment.
The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) said it was particularly concerned about police stops, identity checks and other operations involving Rohingya, Bengali-speaking Muslims, migrants and asylum-seekers.
The committee linked the increase in such operations to a 2017 Home Affairs Ministry order and said scrutiny had intensified following the April 2025 attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir.
It said reports indicated that identity checks based on racial profiling had resulted in arbitrary arrests and detention without due process, as well as allegations of torture and other ill-treatment.
The committee also expressed concern over deportations and forced returns of people seeking international protection. It urged India to respect the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits states from returning people to countries where they could face persecution or serious harm.
The panel called on Indian authorities to urgently address discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes targeting Rohingya and Bengali-speaking Muslims and to ensure they can access protection and basic rights without discrimination.
It also urged India to refrain from collective expulsions and ensure that asylum-seekers and others in need of international protection have access to appropriate procedures.
The findings were issued as part of the committee’s latest review of India’s implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The committee also expressed broader concern about reports of violations by law enforcement officials against ethnic and ethno-religious minorities, Indigenous and tribal communities, Scheduled Castes and non-citizens, including allegations of excessive force, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, torture and sexual violence.
It called for prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into such allegations and for those responsible to be held accountable.
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