News about Rohingya Muslims is widely circulating on social media, with claims that 60,000 babies have been born in Rohingya camps in India within a year (here, here & here). In this article, we fact-check the accuracy of this claim.
Claim: Within a year, 60,000 babies have been born in Rohingya camps in India.
Fact: In 2018, Dr. Poonam Khetrapal reported an expectation of 60,000 childbirths in Rohingya camps in Bangladesh. This figure has been mistakenly interpreted as referring to camps in India. However, official statistics indicate that approximately 100 children are born daily in Rohingya camps in Bangladesh, totaling nearly 200,000 births from 2017 to 2023. Regarding India, UNHCR reported as of 31 January 2022, more than 46,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, primarily from Myanmar and Afghanistan, are registered with UNHCR India. However, there is no official data available on the number of births occurring in Rohingya camps in India. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
60,000 childbirths in Rohingya camps?
The claim that 60,000 children were born in Rohingya camps in one year does not pertain to India. A Google keyword search led us to a 2018 news article discussing an expected 60,000 births in Rohingya camps. However, this report is about Rohingya camps in Bangladesh, not India.
Discussing the deplorable conditions in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, Dr. Poonam Khetrapal, the South-East Asia Regional Director of the World Health Organization (WHO), described the situation of the Rohingyas who have fled Myanmar as horrifying. She also estimated that “60,000 babies will be born in these refugee camps over the next year.
Dr. Khetrapal’s comments might be the source of the viral news. However, she was referring to camps in Bangladesh, not India. Therefore, it is clear that her remarks have been misunderstood and wrongly attributed to India.
UNHCR’s official figures:
Although UNHCR’s official statistics are not as high as claimed, they emphasized that the conditions in these camps are alarming. In 2018, UNHCR reported that over 60 Rohingya babies are born every day in the refugee camps in Bangladesh. This figure may have been misconstrued as 60,000.
According to the latest information from a 2023 news report, the Office of Refugee Relief and Repatriation indicated that approximately 100 children are born each day in Rohingya camps, totaling nearly 200,000 births between 2017 and 2023. This suggests that while the birth rate in these camps is alarming, it is not as high as claimed in the viral post. The status of refugees living in the Bangladeshi camps can be viewed here.
Rohingyas in India:
According to UNHCR, as of 31 January 2022, more than 46,000 refugees and asylum-seekers are registered with UNHCR India, mainly from Myanmar and Afghanistan. However, there is no official information about the number of childbirths happening in the Rohingya camps in India.
The Indian government has clarified in Parliament on several occasions that there are no exact figures regarding the number of Rohingyas living in the country. However, it is estimated that about 40,000 Rohingyas from Myanmar have entered India illegally. This makes it clear that the claim of 60,000 births a year in Rohingya camps is not about India.
To sum up, this news about 60,000 births a year in Rohingya camps pertains to Bangladesh, not India.
