Need for Refugee Law in India considering the situation of Afghan Refugees

Nobody intends to abandon his home and choose an entirely different livelihood. There are multiple reasons why individuals from around the world seek to rebuild their livelihood in a different country. Some people rebuild their lives in a different country to get an education or a job. On the other hand, some people are forced to leave their country as a direct result of Human Rights violations, for example, torture. Millions of people move to another country to save their life from armed conflicts and other crises of violence. Since the 1947 partition, India has hosted thousands of refugees. The life of these people has not been easier in India in the absence of the refugee law where their rights are not secured and their citizenship are not granted. The lives of the children are unpredictable, the futures of the families are uncertain. However, with the increasing complexity in managing asylum for refugees and securing rights for them, the need for introducing a refugee law in India has become more significant in the present time. The refugee issue in today’s world has become an international and multidimensional concern that has challenged the international community. Despite the rights provided in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights regarding the right to asylum, many states including India fail to provide any specific legislation governing the situation of refugees in the country. Irrespective of this long history of refugees in India and the present scenario with the Afghan refugees, the country is still not considering the implementation of any refugee policy or the law of its own. The main aim of this article is to understand the situation of refugees in India in the absence of refugee law. It will also try to understand why India desperately needs to adopt a refugee law concerning the situation of Afghan refugees in the country.