March 14, 2025 New York Urgent plea to the Indian government made by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres demanding acceptance of thousands of Rohingya refugees suffering extreme food shortages and the prospect of famine.
Emphasizing the suffering of about 40,000 Rohingya migrants caught in limbo inside India’s borders, Guterres cautioned of an impending humanitarian disaster at a press conference in New York depending on quick response.
His request follows a recent trip to the packed refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, with rapidly worsening conditions.
Rates of malnutrition among Rohingya children have skyrocketed, and cuts in international aid have aggravated the situation. Guterres urged richer countries—including India—to bear the load and stop more suffering of people.
Rohingya Crisis worsened among food shortages
From Myanmar, the stateless Muslim minority group known as the Rohingya have endured decades of persecution.
The problem worsened in 2017 when a merciless military campaign drove about 700,000 Rohingya people to escape to Bangladesh. Although Bangladesh welcomes around one million refugees right now, its resources are clearly strained.
Guterres saw personally the increasing humanitarian situation during his March 13 trip to Cox’s Bazar. Data from UNICEF shows that rates of malnutrition among Rohingya children housed in camps increased by 27% in February 2025 alone.
Emphasizing the critical necessity of worldwide intervention, Guterres said the situation was “a moral failure of the international community.”
The UN head underlined the terrible effects of cuts in foreign aid, which have resulted in food shortages and rising malnutrition.
The UN projects that food shortages might kill up to 1,500 Rohingya by June 2025 without quick assistance.
Efforts Diplomatically Persuading India Get More Intensive
Guterres has been participating in high-level diplomatic negotiations in an effort at a settlement.
He visited secretly with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Dhaka on March 12, 2025, urging India to welcome 5,000 Rohingya families threatened with extreme hunger.
Revealing the gravity of the issue, a leaked UN report from March 10, 2025 warned of possible mass deaths should relocation or more aid not be given shortly.
India has traditionally taken a strong position against receiving Rohingya refugees notwithstanding these diplomatic attempts.
Citing issues with national security and the possible risk of terrorism, the Indian government classified Rohingya refugees as illegal immigrants in 2017.
India is not legally obliged to welcome asylum seekers since it is also not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention.
But human rights groups have expressed concerns about how Rohingya people are treated inside India’s borders.
Human Rights Watch estimates indicate that about three hundred Rohingya refugees still under custody in Jammu as of March 2025 Furthermore suffering those seeking asylum is India’s continuous crackdown on illegal immigrants.
Guters challenges India’s refugee policy.
Guterres strongly questioned India’s tight refugee laws in his speech. With a $4 trillion GDP and growing worldwide influence, he noted India has the means to house a small portion of the Rohingya people without major difficulty.
He also cited current humanitarian events reported by the humanitarian group India Relief Watch, including the starving deaths of twelve Rohingya refugees in Delhi slums in February 2025.
Guterres contended that allowing a small number of Rohingya refugees into India would not only stop more deaths but also fit India’s long-standing custom of offering refuge to underprivileged groups.
“This is a test of our shared humanity,” he remarked, exhorting India to step forward and shield people in great need.
Examining the UN Appeal from India
India has been adamant about its limited refugee restrictions, although Guterres’s urgent appeal seems to have created an opening for communication.
The Indian Home Ministry responded on March 15, 2025, noting Guterres’s worries and attesting to the government’s examination of his demand.
Though no specific pledges have been made, the declaration represents a change from India’s past denial of involvement on the matter.
Whether it is feasible to welcome Rohingya refugees is still debatable. The government of India keeps citing national security issues and worries about terrorism as grounds for keeping its strict posture.
Domestic political elements complicate matters even further since some groups oppose any easing of immigration laws.
A Humanitarian Crossing Point
Observing attentively to see how India will react to the mounting crisis is the world community The stakes could not be higher given thousands of Rohingya refugees run the danger of starving.
The demand for compassion by Guterres emphasizes how urgently a coordinated humanitarian reaction is needed to stop more death.
Should India decide to welcome any of the Rohingya population, it may create a strong model for other countries in the area to adopt. Conversely, inaction going forward could exacerbate the humanitarian disaster under development in Bangladesh’s refugee camps.
One issue still begs: Will India give humanitarian responsibilities top priority over its strict immigration laws if the scenario develops?
For the thousands of Rohingya who are about to starve, the solution might make all the difference between life and death.
