Indian police said they arrested 74 Rohingya refugees yesterday for living “illegally” in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh – a move activists condemned as an arbitrary crackdown on people fleeing violence.

The members of the Rohingya community were detained in six towns and cities in the state and 10 of the refugees were juveniles, police said, without giving ages.

The Rohingya Human Rights Initiative campaign group said the detained people had been living in the area for about 10 years after fleeing persecution in Myanmar.

Many had been doing manual labour including rubbish collection, Initiative director Sabber Kyaw Min said. “They have been only demanding refuge,” he added. “The community is requesting … an end to detentions.”

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled Myanmar to countries including Bangladesh, which borders India. Myanmar’s military denies committing crimes against humanity.

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