India rights body urged to act over detention of Rohingya mother and infant
Rights group moves human rights body over continued detention of young refugee and baby after court-ordered sentence expired
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — A human rights organization has petitioned India’s National Human Rights Commission over the continued detention of a 20-year-old Rohingya refugee and her five-month-old infant, weeks after she completed a court-mandated prison sentence for immigration-related offenses.
The appeal was filed by Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha, which said the woman, identified as Amina, remains confined in a prison in eastern India’s West Bengal state despite having already served the maximum sentence ordered by a court.
According to the group, Amina was convicted under India’s immigration law and sentenced to six months in prison after being arrested in May 2025. Rights advocates say the sentence — along with a monetary fine — has been fully completed, yet both Amina and her infant continue to be held without fresh legal orders authorizing their detention.
The organization said Amina is a Rohingya refugee who had been living in a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees-registered refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, before being trafficked into India. It said she is a survivor of sexual violence and human trafficking and gave birth shortly before being brought across the border.
A judicial magistrate convicted Amina under provisions of India’s Foreigners Act and ordered her release after completion of the sentence. However, rights advocates allege that prison authorities failed to act on the court order, resulting in what they describe as unlawful and unconstitutional detention.
“The continued confinement of a young mother and her infant after the expiry of a judicial sentence has no sanction in law,” said Kirity Roy, secretary of the rights group, arguing that the detention violates constitutional guarantees of equality before law and the right to life and personal liberty.
The organization has called for the immediate release of both the mother and child, a formal inquiry into the failure to implement the court’s order, and accountability for officials responsible for the continued detention.
India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and lacks a national refugee law, leaving groups such as the Rohingya vulnerable to detention under immigration statutes.
Human rights advocates say the case highlights the risks faced by refugee women and children when criminal law is applied without safeguards for humanitarian protection.
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