By Guest Author

By Zulker Naeen

Misinformation about Rohingya refugees often starts in Myanmar and Bangladesh, then spreads across borders and shapes public opinion throughout South Asia. Images and videos from refugee camps in Bangladesh are reused in anti-immigrant narratives against the Rohingya, stateless Muslim refugees who have been forced to flee Myanmar due to an ongoing genocide and oppression against them.

Since 2017, some have used false narratives to suggest that Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh from the Myanmar genocide are evidence of Bangladeshi infiltration into India, which in turn justifies hostility toward Rohingya refugees in Indian territory.

Between 2017 and 2025, Indian fact-checking organizations themselves have debunked instances of anti-Rohingya misinformation circulated across India’s digital spaces. However, the prejudice remains strong — often with disastrous consequences.

In May 2018, a deeply disturbing video went viral across WhatsApp and Facebook platforms, claiming to show Rohingya Muslims killing and consuming Hindus, which generated widespread panic. Fact-checkers uncovered multiple inconsistencies in this video, exposing it as a complete fabrication.

Another egregious example emerged in December 2018, a fake news website published a report with horrifying photographs claiming that Rohingyas in Mewat, Haryana, were killing Hindus and consuming their flesh, a narrative that tapped into primal fears and ancient prejudices. However, Alt News investigators revealed the photographs actually depicted a traditional Tibetan sky burial ceremony.

The summer of 2019 witnessed a dangerous wave of misinformation when messages flooded WhatsApp groups across Madhya Pradesh, India, claiming that between 500 and 2,000 Rohingya Muslims armed with weapons were arriving in various groups to kidnap teenagers from outside schools. Alt News’s investigation revealed that the photograph actually shows members of a sex-trafficking ring arrested. These child-lifting rumors have already resulted in over 30 mob lynching deaths across India between 2017 and 2019.

In May 2020, a video showing men brutally beating two others circulated widely with claims that Rohingya Muslims in West Bengal were assaulting Hindus. The video is actually from March 2019 and originates from Bangladesh, having nothing whatsoever to do with Rohingya refugees. This footage heightened communal tension without any factual basis.

These cases have already highlighted how anti-immigrant discourse in India’s online spaces weaponizes the Rohingya identity through systematic misinformation.

This story was originally published in nriaffairs.com. Read the full story here.