ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies some theoretical approaches to migrants and refugees which frame the debate in the North and examines their relevance to the Indian context. In the context of identifying the limitations of these approaches, it considers the asylum policy of the Northern states. The chapter argues that the cartographic anxiety of a postcolonial state, the problem of subnational dissent, and a foreign policy shaped by the tenets of political realism have come to define the approach of the Indian state towards aliens, be they refugees or migrants. It outlines the legal status of aliens in India, with refugees being a special class of aliens. The chapter focuses on what needs to be done to protect the rights of migrants and refugees in India. The postcolonial Indian state displays a ‘cartographic anxiety’ flowing from a bid to create a ‘nation’ and a ‘national identity’.
