30 African refugees arrested by Delhi Police in past week, sent to detention centre

The Delhi Police has arrested nearly 30 African refugees in the past week and sent them to a detention centre in the city.

Ankit Chauhan, the deputy commissioner of police in South Delhi, told Scroll that the refugees were “illegally overstaying their visas and passports” and were arrested under “routine exercise”.

However, human rights activists have alleged that the police seem to be “going after” African refugees, as was the case with the detention of Rohingya refugees in recent months.

Nandita Haksar, a human rights lawyer and author, said that African refugees were being targeted “as the police went to Malviya Nagar [in South Delhi], not other places”.

The Malviya Nagar area is home to several refugee groups.

On the other hand, Chauhan alleged that the visas of the African refugees and that “UNHCR cards are not accepted by the Foreigners Regional Registration Office”.

“Whatever documents they have are not accepted,” he claimed.

A UNHCR card is an identity document issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to asylum-seekers and refugees. While it protects against refugees from being sent back to their country, the card does not grant the right to remain in the host nation.

India does not have a law covering the protection of refugees and the country is not a signatory to the United Nations Convention...

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