INDIAN authorities allegedly forced dozens of Rohingya refugees off a naval vessel into the sea near Myanmar last week, according to the United Nations, the refugees’ families and their lawyer.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that at least 40 Rohingya refugees, including children, women and elderly people, were detained in New Delhi before being flown to India’s eastern coast and pushed into the sea by the Indian navy near Myanmar’s maritime border. 

The group, provided with life jackets, swam ashore, but their whereabouts inside Myanmar remain unknown.

Five Rohingya refugees told the Associated Press that their family members were among those detained on May 6 and then removed from India on May 8. 

They said that the group was taken by aircraft and later forced into the water near the Myanmar coast.

Dilawar Hussain, a lawyer representing the refugees, confirmed that families have filed a petition in India’s Supreme Court, urging the government to locate and bring them back.

India’s navy and foreign ministry have declined to comment on the allegations.

The UN rights office said that it had appointed an independent expert to investigate what it described as ”unconscionable, unacceptable acts.”

It urged India to halt the ”inhumane and life-threatening treatment of Rohingya refugees, including their repatriation into perilous conditions in Myanmar.”

UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews called the incident ”nothing short of outrageous,” accusing India of a ”blatant disregard for the lives and safety of those who require international protection.”

India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol and has no national refugee law, leaving thousands of Rohingya Muslims vulnerable to detention and deportation. 

Of an estimated 40,000 Rohingya in India, at least 22,500 are registered with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), according to Refugees International.

Many live in overcrowded, squalid camps across several Indian states, where they face constant harassment. 

Hindu nationalist groups in India have long demanded the expulsion of Rohingya refugees, calling them illegal immigrants and a threat to national security. 

Over the years, many have been detained or deported to Bangladesh and Myanmar.

One refugee, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, said his brother was among those expelled. 

He received a call from him on May 8 — the same day of the alleged forced repatriation — after the group reached land and a local fisherman lent him a phone.

According to the man, his brother described being blindfolded and restrained before Indian officials removed the bindings, handed out life jackets, and ordered the group to swim to an island within Myanmar territory.

“My parents were taken from me and thrown into the waters,” he said, adding that his two brothers, his parents and a sister-in-law were among those forced out. 

“It would be enough if I am reunited with my parents. I just want my parents, nothing else.”