If India wants to be a leader of the Global South, it must enact a refugee protection law

The issue of refugees and migrants has taken centrestage in international politics and has become a contentious issue in India as well. The root of the controversies in India is due to the misconception that because India is not a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Refugees, 1951, the country has no obligations towards those foreigners who seek asylum here.

It is true that India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention. The reason is historical and largely irrelevant. The convention is a document born during the Cold War and most Third World countries saw it as a document supporting western foreign policy objectives.

Despite not being a signatory to the convention, India has always recognised a class of foreigners who were “refugees” and given them protection even if they had no legal travel documents such as passports and visas. Over the decades, India has hosted Tibetans, more than ten million refugees from East Pakistan and Tamils from Sri Lanka.

UNHCR and India

Although not a state party to the 1951 Convention, India was one of the founding members of the United Nations and it has always strongly supported the purposes and principles of the organisation. India has made significant contributions to implementing the goals of...

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