Other refugees are not recognized by India, but are allowed to register with UNHCR, which has had an office in the country since 1981, when it was allowed in to help with several thousand newly arrived Afghan refugees. These groups receive some assistance from UNHCR but none from the government of India and have been afforded fewer rights and recognition. Today, 49,000 refugees are registered with UNHCR in India, mostly from Myanmar (29,361) and Afghanistan (15,053), with smaller numbers from several African and Middle Eastern countries. When combined with the Tibetans and Sri Lankan Tamils recognized by India, UNHCR reports a total of more than 213,000 refugees and asylum seekers in India. Local groups told the team there are many more refugees who remain unregistered, partially due to UNHCR being based only in Delhi. Government policies and attitudes toward refugees, especially Rohingya, have deteriorated in recent years. The administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi starting in 2014 has largely played to a nationalist audience fueling anti-Muslim and anti-refugee sentiments. This was highlighted in the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act in 2019, which offered citizenship to minorities fleeing persecution in neighboring countries, but noticeably excluded Muslims. Rightwing agitators have regularly referred to Rohingya as “terrorists,” and political leaders, including the head of Modi’s Hindu nationalist party who referred to Rohingya as “infiltrators” and “termites” and threatened to throw them into the Bay of Bengal. One of the key turning points came in February 2017, when a member of India’s ruling party, the BJP, petitioned the state High Court of Jammu & Kashmir seeking identification and deportation of Rohingyas from Jammu. The fervor around this petition and accompanying public campaigns led to many vigilante-style attacks and xenophobic comments against the Rohingya. Soon after, on August 17, 2017, India’s Minister of Home Affairs said that all Rohingya were to be deported and sent back to Myanmar. As one Rohingya leader told the team, this effectively “made all Rohingya illegal migrants overnight and led to negative hate campaigns from locals.” Around the same time, India stopped renewing LTVs for Rohingya. In August 2022, the Indian Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs tweeted that Rohingya in Delhi would be provided with housing, basic amenities, and police protection. But the announcement was quickly denounced by the MHA along with a renewed call to detain Rohingya and send them back to Myanmar. Efforts in India’s courts had previously prevented deportations of Rohingya refugees, but since 2017 the Supreme Court has upheld the government’s argument that Rohingya are “illegal immigrants” and failed to stop the deportation of at least 12 Rohingya. Other policies, not necessarily aimed at refugees, have also effectively reduced their access to services. In September 2010, India introduced biometric identity cards, called Aadhaar cards, as a tool for improved economic inclusion and distribution of financial benefits. By 2018, more than 90 percent of the Indian population had one. Today, they are required for employment and to access many government services and subsidies. While Aadhaar cards are available to any resident of India, whether a citizen or not, refugees without government recognition or LTVs, are unable to get them. At first, some refugees were able to get Aadhaar cards, but by 2018 the MHA stated that UNHCR cards alone were not enough to obtain them. REFUGEESINTERNATIONAL.ORG | 9