Refugees in India and need for National refugee law: An overview

Despite the lack of specific law for refugees, the Government of India continues to treat incoming refugees on the basis of their nationality & political considerations. India is not a signatory to 1951 UN convention for refugees, in view of continuously growing concern of national security. This creates an immediate need for national refugee law. The study looks after the trends, patterns and future projection of refugee population coming to and departing from India, it also explores the need for creating National Refugee law for India. Data for the study is taken from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for the period 1991-2011. Results shows increasing trend of refugee population coming to India over a period of time. Maximum Proportion of refugees are coming from China, while people from India seeking asylum are mainly in the US and Canada.