Based on the information from Al Jazeera, that India is not only rejecting Rohingya refugees but is now attempting to deport those already in the country, India is clearly going through a period of xenophobia. This is most likely a result of the increased influence of ISIS in the middle east. However, in many countries, the people have developed xenophobia and the governments are trying to eliminate it, but the Indian government is not doing anything to alleviate it. Instead they are making the prejudice worse. Also, India only has around 40,000 Rohingya (only 14,000 of whom are refugees) while Bangladesh is hosting over 500,000 and that number is continuing to grow. To fully show the proportional difference, one should consider the fact that the population of Bangladesh is less than 1/8 of the population of India. On top of this, Bangladesh’s GDP is only 9.7% of that of India. So, considering that Bangladesh is much smaller, has less funds, and is still attempting to care for the Rohingya as well as they can, India’s reaction to their mere 14,000 refugees seems irrational and, quite frankly, racist.
Even though the Rohingya are part of the Islam community, that shouldn’t lead the Indian government to believe that they will attack them in any way, especially in terms of refugees. The definition of a refugee is a person who flees their country for refuge or safety. Those seeking safety in a foreign country typically are not focused on any sort of terrorist agenda, they simply want to survive. Therefore, it is difficult to say whether India will open its borders to the Rohingya, but one can assume that the only way something will change is if the global community and its governments act and persuade India to revert to its welcoming policies to those in need.