can settle, their homes are often built on undeveloped or disputed land on the outskirts of cities, which present a myriad of security, health, and safety risks. These challenges are exacerbated by COVID-19, and are interrelated and mutually reinforcing, heightening the cost of statelessness, generating new risks of statelessness, and stifling efforts to promote the right to nationality and the rights of stateless people. Despite a 2018 SC interim order directing authorities to provide the same access to services to refugees as Indian citizens, stateless refugees continue to be deprived of access to health and education services.60 35. Many stateless Rohingya men, women and children face detention, with reports estimating approximately 500 in detention as of 2021. 61 Many have been arrested in West Bengal, Assam, and Manipur. Around 170 have been detained in a ’holding centre’ in Jammu since March 2021,62 many of whom hold UNHCR refugee ID cards which are supposed to protect them against detention. 63 The Indian government has also conducted immigration sweeps during Ramadan, which resulted in many Rohingya being arrested and detained. 36. Many Rohingya have been deported from India to Myanmar through formal legal mechanisms. This violates the customary law principle of non-refoulement. Since 2018, at least three groups of Rohingya have been deported. Between November 2020 and January 2021, dozens of Rohingyas were detained in West Bengal and Assam, despite the fact that many were intending to undergo refugee status determination before UNHCR in Delhi. Deportations, often follow such arrests and detentions, with a 2021 ruling by the SC having paved the way for continued deportations. In this judgment, the SC refused to apply the principle of non-refoulement on the basis that India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention. 64 37. The UNHCR has recommended that India take immediate steps to pursue alternatives to detention for asylum-seekers and establish legal and procedural safeguards to ensure that asylum-seekers are not subjected to arbitrary or indefinite detention while allowing them to contact and be contacted by the UNHCR office.65 ISSUE IV Denial of rights to non-citizens 38. Those denied their right to nationality or documentation, or those without a clear legal status are more likely to be deprived of other rights, including healthcare, education, free movement, work and access to justice. 66 Further, without ready solutions, children 60 https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi8xbydsuj2AhVPldgFHRJfAmYQFnoECBI QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.altnews.in%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F07%2F27859_2013_Order_11-May2018.pdf&usg=AOvVaw2UG_xtTYoCBXpCViiRfB1t 61 ISI, Human Rights and Covid-19: What now for the Rohingya 8 (Aug. 2020). 62 “Rohingyas Detained in Jammu Shall Not Be Deported to Myanmar without Due Procedure: Supreme Court,” The Indian Express (blog), April 8, 2021, https://indianexpress.com/article/india/rohingyas-jammu-deported-supreme-court-7264499/. 63 Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Aakash Hassan, “India Detains Rohingya Refugees and Threatens to Deport Them to Myanmar,” The Guardian, March 8, 2021, sec. World news, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/08/india-detains-rohingyarefugees-and-threatens-to-deport-them-to-myanmar. 64 Mohammad Salimullah v. Union of India, WP (C) 793/2017, www.main.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2017/27338/27338_2017_31_1502_27493_Judgement_08-Apr-2021.pdf. 65 Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Submission by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Universal Periodic Review, 3rd Cycle, 27th Session, 2016, https://www.uprinfo.org/sites/default/files/document/india/session_27_-_may_2017/unhcr_upr27_ind_e.pdf 66 Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion et al, ‘Together We Can: The COVID-19 Impact on Stateless People & A Roadmap for Change’, 2021, together_we_can_report_2021.pdf (institutesi.org). 12