Washington, D.C. (May 22, 2012) -- The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) urged the Indian government this week to provide formal legal status to Hindu refugees fleeing religious persecution in Pakistan.  According to several human rights organizations, thousands of Pakistani Hindus have sought refuge in India in recent years, but the Indian government has refused to officially recognize them as refugees.  As a result, most Pakistani Hindus live on the margins of society in India, without legal documents and unable to access government benefits.   

Although there has been a steady flow of Hindus crossing the border since the 1990s, rapidly deteriorating conditions in Pakistan have caused a significant increase in migration over the last few years.  The upsurge in kidnappings and forced conversions of Hindu girls, in particular, has created an atmosphere of fear and insecurity amongst Pakistan's Hindu community.

India's External Affairs Minister addressed the issue of discrimination and violence towards minorities in Pakistan during a recent session in Parliament, and diplomatically raised the issue directly with the Government of Pakistan.  The Indian government, however, has not indicated any plans to legalize Pakistani Hindu refugees, who remain at risk for deportation.      

"While we appreciate the Indian government's statement of concern regarding the condition of Hindus in Pakistan, we urge them to provide sanctuary and formal legal status to these Hindu refugees on humanitarian grounds," said Samir Kalra, Esq., HAF Director and Senior Fellow for Human Rights.  "Having already suffered tremendous oppression and indignity in Pakistan, sending these refugees back now would be unconscionable."  

The Human Rights Law Network estimates that there are approximately 115,000 Pakistani Hindus living throughout India, but less than ten percent have been legalized by the Indian government.  In the past ten months alone, 400 Hindu families have arrived in India, while an estimated 6,000 Pakistani Hindus migrated to India in the early part of 2009.  HAF has documented this movement of Pakistani Hindus to India in its annual human rights report, Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Rights, 2011.

Many of the refugees live in substandard conditions in makeshift camps scattered throughout the country, primarily in New Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Gujarat.  The squalid living conditions in the Dera Dhuni Baba camp near New Delhi was recently captured by filmmaker Rahul Riji Nair in a short documentary entitled, The Human Boundaries.  

The film highlights the precarious position of a group of 151 Pakistani Hindu men, women, and children, who fled from Pakistan's southern Sindh province and entered India in September 2011.  The camp has since been dispersed following a raid by Indian police, forcing the residents to seek shelter elsewhere.  Despite their difficult circumstances, the refugees are desperate to remain in India and say that they would rather die than be sent back to Pakistan.  

"India has a longstanding tradition and history of welcoming persecuted populations from around the world, including Zoroastrians from Iran, Jews from the Middle East, and Tibetan Buddhists," said Jay Kansara, HAF's Washington, D.C. based Associate Director.  "It should similarly provide a safe haven for Hindus from Pakistan."

According to the Foundation, the Indian government has also failed to accord refugee status to many Hindu refugees from Afghanistan and Bangladesh.