India challenged a UN expert over inaccurate references in a migrants' rights report. The objections underscore demands for verifiable evidence, legal clarity and respect for state sovereignty.Unitednations/geneva,Oct 22, 2026 20:46 ISTIndia has strongly rejected what it called “imprecise and unsupported” references to the country in a report by a United Nations expert on migrants’ rights, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
India said country-specific allegations could not be based on typographical errors and unidentified geographical descriptions.Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs Barkha Tamrakar raised India’s concerns during an interactive dialogue with Gehad Madi, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants.According to PTI, Tamrakar said the report contained glaring inaccuracies concerning India. “India must place on record a serious concern about the report’s treatment of law, evidence, and state responsibility. A thematic report must not convert broad policy preferences, unverified allegations, or advocacy submissions into settled findings of the UN,” she said.Referring to paragraph 27 and footnote 32 of the report, Tamrakar noted that it stated: “For instance, in Assan and Northern India.” She said the reference did not identify any case, proceeding, authority, date, law or source. “Assan is not the name of an Indian state or a recognised jurisdiction.
If the intended reference is Assam, the report should say so accurately. Northern India is not a legal or administrative jurisdiction.
A country-specific allegation cannot be made through a typographical error and an unidentified geographical expression,” she said.“India therefore rejects this reference as imprecise and unsupported in its present form. If the special rapporteur intended to refer to the citizenship-related processes in Assam, the report should have identified the precise process and distinguished an allegation, an expert concern, an administrative decision, and a judicial finding,” she said, adding that these were not interchangeable categories.
Tamrakar said India expected every country-specific assertion to be properly sourced and the country concerned to be given an opportunity to respond.She said India, as a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, supported Articles 3, 9 and 10 in their proper context. Article 3 requires the best interests of the child to be a primary consideration.“It does not say that this consideration is the only consideration in every case, or that it automatically overrides lawful decisions concerning public order, border management, criminal conduct, nationality, or immigration status.
India cannot accept the report’s categorical propositions as though they were universally binding legal treaty rules,” Tamrakar said.India supported humane and lawful migration governance but did not accept that irregular migration should be treated only as a matter of vulnerability and never as a breach of immigration law, PTI reported.India sought three corrections. It said references to countries must be accurate, specific and verifiable.
Recommendations must be clearly distinguished from binding treaty obligations and the policy preferences of an independent mandate holder. It also said child protection should be advanced through due process, family-sensitive procedures, cooperation among states and child protection authorities, and safe and regular pathways, rather than by denying legitimate state functions or using generalised allegations.Tamrakar said India would continue to engage constructively with the United Nations and other countries on these objectives.
She stressed that cooperation was strengthened by accuracy and that human rights advocacy was stronger when grounded in verifiable facts, applicable law and respect for the sovereign equality of states.In summary, India rejected the report’s references as inaccurate and unsupported, sought clear sourcing and legal distinctions, and reiterated its support for lawful and humane migration governance and child protection through due process.With PTI Inputs- Ends