Watch: India rejects ‘imprecise and unsupported’ references in UN migrant rights report

India has rejected references to the country in a report by a United Nations expert on migrants’ rights, calling them “imprecise and unsupported”. It said claims about a country must be backed by clear references and evidence.

Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs Barkha Tamrakar raised India's concerns during an interactive dialogue with UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants Gehad Madi. She said the report contained errors and warned against presenting unverified claims and opinions as established UN findings.

India questions reference to ‘Assan and Northern India’

Tamrakar pointed to paragraph 27, footnote 32, of the report, which mentions “Assan and Northern India”. She said the reference did not name any case, legal proceeding, authority, date, law or source.

“Assan is not the name of an Indian state or a recognised jurisdiction. If the intended reference is Assam, the report should say so accurately. Northern India is not a legal or administrative jurisdiction. A country-specific allegation cannot be made through a typographical error and an unidentified geographical expression,” she said.

India rejected the reference in its current form. Tamrakar said that if the report intended to discuss citizenship-related processes in Assam, it should have clearly identified the process.

She also said the report should distinguish between allegations, expert concerns, government decisions and court rulings.

“These are not interchangeable categories,” she said, adding that claims about individual countries should be supported by sources and give the country concerned an opportunity to respond.

India raises concerns over interpretation of child rights

Tamrakar said India is a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and supports Articles 3, 9 and 10 in their proper context. Article 3 states that the best interests of the child must be a primary consideration.

“It does not say that this consideration is the only consideration in every case, or that it automatically overrides lawful decisions concerning public order, border management, criminal conduct, nationality, or immigration status. India cannot accept the report's categorical propositions as though they were universally binding legal treaty rules,” she said.

India supports humane and lawful migration policies, Tamrakar said. However, she added that irregular migration should not be treated only as an issue of vulnerability, without considering violations of immigration law.