years, and lower the bond amount from 100,000 rupees (1,300 USD) to 5,000 rupees (67 USD). The SC further ordered the release of those detained for two or more years, and to explore alternatives to detention. As a result, 481 more people were released.55 By directing conditional release of detainees, the SC deemed detention as the primary resort rather than the last resort. ISSUE III Stateless refugees in India 31. India is home to approximately 210,991 persons of concern to UNHCR, mainly refugees from Myanmar, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Tibet.56 Refugees from Sri Lanka and Tibet are determined and recognised by the government while those from Myanmar, Afghanistan and non-neighbouring countries are determined and recognised by the UNHCR. The degradation of their legal status, systematic exclusion from documentation and basic services, coupled with increasing harassment and detention, have placed the refugee community in highly precarious positions. 32. There are around 18,000 stateless Rohingya refugees registered with UNHCR, 57 and potentially tens of thousands more unregistered. Exact numbers are non-existent, partly as entry is not systematically recorded across India’s extensive land border crossings. There is also no protection guarantee for Rohingya who declare themselves to the state. UNHCR has limited authority, reach and capacity in the country and in August 2017 (in the immediate aftermath of the Myanmar genocide), the Government of India declared Rohingya to be ‘illegal migrants’.58 33. Refugee registration processes are becoming increasingly coercive, in part, due to the impact of the CAA (see above). Further, while the Aadhaar card had become an essential lifeline for refugees who often lack other government issued documentation, since October 2018, refugee cards are no longer considered a valid documentation to obtain Aadhaar, affecting Rohingya and other refugees whose Long Term Visas are kept in abeyance and not renewed, or who were only granted UNHCR Refugee Cards. Further, the Refugee Card is often not recognised as a valid form of identification and does not provide access to basic health and education services.59 34. Rohingya in settlements across India experience chronic protection failures and deteriorating living conditions. Poverty is compounded by the community’s inability to find secure and sustainable livelihoods. Rohingya refugees face unsafe working conditions in the informal economy, which is often highly exploitative. Where Rohingya 55 “Assam Detention Centres for Foreigners Renamed ‘Transit Camps,’” The Hindu, August 19, 2021, sec. Other States, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/assam-detention-centres-for-foreigners-renamed-transitcamps/article35988761.ece. 56 UNHCR, Global Focus, India, 2022, www.reporting.unhcr.org/india. 57 CESF Consortium, Together We Can: The Covid-19 Impact on Stateless People & A Roadmap for Change 59 (June 2021). 58 Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, Failure to protect: the denial of status, detention and refoulement of Rohingya refugees in India, August 2021, p.4-5, www.files.institutesi.org/Rohingya_Refugees_in_India_Brieifing_Paper.pdf. 59 Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (n association with the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance), Locked in and locked out: The impact of digital identity systems on Rohingya populations, November 2020, www.files.institutesi.org/Locked_In_Locked_Out_The_Rohingya_Briefing_Paper.pdf. India granted Long Term Visas (LVT) to Rohingya from 2012 onwards, based on their UNHCR Refugee Cards, which offered some protection against detention and deportation as ‘illegal migrants’. It also enabled Rohingya to obtain other key identity documents and access certain basic rights and services. However, since 2016-17, existing LVT have not been renewed and new ones have not been granted, with no official explanation as to why. As these visas are a pre-requisite to an Aadhaar identity card, which is a key piece of identity necessary to access other basic rights and services, the denial of LVT has had a cascading effect. 11