The Union Nations’ watchdog on racial discrimination on Tuesday expressed “grave concern” about Indian law enforcement officers allegedly targeting Rohingya refugees and Bengali-speaking Muslims.The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said that there had been an “increase in law enforcement operations targeting Rohingya, Bengali-speaking Muslims, migrants and asylum-seekers”, particularly following an order by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in 2017 and the 2025 Pahalgam terror attack.The panel also said that it was concerned about violations allegedly perpetrated by the law enforcement authorities against the Scheduled Tribes, the Scheduled Castes and other groups.The comments were made as part of the committee’s findings on India, Finland, Honduras and Kuwait after reviewing the four countries at a recent session of the panel.The committee of 18 independent rights experts monitors adherence to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by signatory countries. This was the first time since 2007 that India appeared for review before the panel, AFP reported.The 2017 order was an apparent reference to a directive issued by New Delhi that year detailing instructions for the deportation of undocumented migrants, including Rohingyas.Weeks after the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam in April 2025, the Union home ministry had directed the states and Union Territories to verify the credentials of persons suspected to be undocumented migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar.Following the May 2025 directive, the police in several states, most of them ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, have been detaining Bengali-speaking persons – mostly Muslims – and asking them to prove that they are Indian citizens.Several persons have been forced into Bangladesh after they allegedly could not prove their Indian citizenship. In some cases, persons who were mistakenly sent to Bangladesh returned to the country after the state authorities in India proved that they were Indians.In May 2025, Scroll had reported how the Indian authorities had allegedly deported 40 Rohingya refugees by forcing them into the Andaman Sea.On Tuesday, the United Nations committee noted that the “police stops and identity checks involving racial profiling had reportedly resulted in arbitrary arrest and detention without due process, as well as torture and ill-treatment”.The panel said that it was also concerned about deportations and “forcible returns of people in need of international protection, in violation of the principle of non-refoulement”.The committee called on India to “urgently address” discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes against Rohingya, Bengali-speaking Muslims, migrants and asylum-seekers. It also asked New Delhi to protect the groups’ rights, “refrain from collective expulsions” and ensure access to international protection in line with the principle of non-refoulement.Refoulement is the unlawful act of forcing asylum seekers or refugees to return to a country where they were persecuted or face threats to their lives.The committee said that it was also concerned about reports of alleged large-scale violations “perpetrated by law enforcement officials” against ethnic and ethno-religious groups, the Scheduled Tribes, the Scheduled Castes, particularly Dalits.“These included racially motivated violence, excessive use of force, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary and prolonged detention without due process, torture, ill-treatment and sexual violence,” the committee said in a statement.The panel called on India to conduct prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into all such allegations and hold those responsible accountable.The Ministry of External Affairs has not yet commented on the committee’s findings.Written by Nachiket Deuskar. Edited by Sara Varghese.Also read: How India allegedly deported 40 Rohingya refugees by forcing them into Andaman Sea