Minorities in Assam facing marginalization and hate speech, UN experts warn

The concerns raised by the group of UN Special Rapporteurs, are linked to draft amendments to the Assam National Register of Citizens, which excludes more than 4 million people from the list, in particular, Muslims and Hindus of Bengali descent.

Millions of people from minority backgrounds, in the Indian state of Assam, are living in a "xenophobic climate", and face marginalization and a rise in hate speech on social media, independent UN experts warned on Wednesday.

The concerns raised by the group of UN Special Rapporteurs, are linked to draft amendments to the Assam National Register of Citizens, which excludes more than 4 million people from the list, in particular, Muslims and Hindus of Bengali descent.

Those excluded from the final list, due to be published on 31 July, will have to prove to a tribunal that they are not "irregular foreigners", and, say the experts, they risk statelessness, deportation, or prolonged detention.

The Special Rapporteurs added that the process may exacerbate xenophobia, whilst fuelling religious intolerance and discrimination, and called on the Indian authorities to step in and take "resolute action."