Myanmar refugees under pressure after Pahalgam attack? India says this
What's the story
India has strongly rejected the observations of United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, Thomas Andrews, who claimed that refugees from the nation were "under severe pressure" after the Pahalgam terror attack. The Indian government termed the remarks "prejudiced and blinkered." Member of Parliament Dilip Saikia expressed serious objection to what he called "baseless and biased observations" in Andrews's report.
Official statement
Claims linking Pahalgam attack to Myanmar refugees have no bearing
Saikia said India "strongly rejected" Andrews's observations during an interactive dialogue in the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly. He stressed that claims linking the Pahalgam attack to pressure on Myanmar refugees have "absolutely no factual bearing." "I strongly denounce the biased approach adopted by the Special Rapporteur of the innocent civilian victims of the April 2025 terrorist attack in Pahalgam through a biased communal lens," he said.
Report
What Andrews said in report
In his report, Andrews said that "following the April 2025 terrorist attack on Hindu tourists in Jammu and Kashmir, refugees from Myanmar have been under severe pressure in India even though no individuals from Myanmar were involved in the attack." He said refugees in India told him "that they have been summoned, detained, interrogated, and threatened with deportation by Indian authorities in recent months." The report also claimed that "Indian authorities deported scores of Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh in May."
Diplomatic position
Saikia calls for end to violence in Myanmar
Dismissing the report, Saikai urged the Special Rapporteur not to depend upon unverified and skewed media reports "whose sole purpose appears to be maligning my country, where people of all faiths live, including more than 200 million Muslims, which is about 10 percent of the world's Muslim population." Saikia said India "continues to support all initiatives aimed at fostering trust and advancing a Myanmar-owned and Myanmar-led path toward peace, stability, and democracy."
Relief operations
MP highlights India's past humanitarian efforts
Saikia also highlighted India's people-centric approach toward Myanmar, citing past humanitarian efforts like "Operation Brahma" after the March 2025 earthquake and "Operation Sadbhav" during Typhoon Yagi in 2024. The UN's Third Committee, which deals with human rights and humanitarian issues, was debating the worsening situation in Myanmar following the 2021 military coup and continued violence between the junta and resistance forces.