For a country that has had a long history of sheltering refugees, the absence of a clear refugee legislation, especially at the turn of the 21st century, is surprising. In its history of granting protection to forced migrants and refugees, as of 2016, nearly 1,10,098 come from Tibetan China and 63,162 from Sri Lanka (data from UNHCR), around 7,693 from Afghanistan and 15, 563 from Myanmar (data from India). In 2017, India received 2,07,665 refugees and asylum seekers in the country. These refugees were primarily housed in the documented 39 Tibetan settlements, 400 Pakistani Hindu settlements and 110 camps for Srilankan refugees, all but one of which are situated in Tamil Nadu.5 Despite being sought prolifically for asylum, the lack of a formal asylum regime can be attributed to various ideological and political reasons, primarily the volatile political borders it shares with its neighbours. Because India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol, the indigenous Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Passport Act, 1967 are the currently existing legislations which govern refugees. These laws make no distinction between migrants, refugees and foreign visitors and are strictly deportation oriented in lieu of criminal or illegal activities committed by such ‘foreigners’ on Indian soil.