Two Rohingya Muslims file petition against deportation in Supreme Court
NEW DELHI: India’s Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday said that the government has set up special task forces in various Indian states to identify and deport Rohingya Muslims.
The minister said that human rights organisations must stop preaching to India.
“I want to tell the international organisations whether the Rohingyas are registered under the United Nations Human Rights Commission or not. They are illegal immigrants in India,” Rijiju told reporters.
The minister of state for home said that since they are not legal immigrants, “they stand to be deported”.
“As per law, they stand to be deported because they are illegal immigrants. We are a nation with great democratic traditions,” Rijiju said.
“India has absorbed maximum number of refugees in the world so nobody should give India any lessons on how to deal with refugees,” he added
Taking a strong position on the reported criticism of the government’s stand on the issue, Rijiju said, “We are following the legal path then why have we been accused of being inhuman.”
Rijiju also said that the Centre has instructed all state governments to start the process of their deportation.
The statement comes as India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels to Myanmar on a three-day visit to meet Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.
Around 40,000 Rohingyas are said to be staying illegally in India. Their condition is likely to figure in Modi’s talks with Myanmar’s de-facto leader and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
Petition in Supreme Court
Two Rohingya immigrants have approached the Supreme Court urging it to direct the central government to not deport them to Myanmar.
Filing the petition the two Rohingya Muslims said that they were facing persecution in Myanmar and that sending them back was in violation of various international conventions.
Human Rights Watch has already urged New Delhi to “abide by its international legal obligations” and not forcibly deport Rohingyas.
