Indian authorities labelling all Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers in India as illegal immigrants and ordering deportation to Myanmar where they are at risk of serious human rights violations is an abject dereliction of India’s human rights obligations and an egregious violation of international law, Amnesty International India said on Wednesday.
“Characterising Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers as illegal immigrants and ordering their immediate deportation takes no account of the reasons why they had to flee their homes and the grave risks they may face if forcibly returned. It also shows blatant disregard for India’s obligations under international law,” said Raghu Menon, Advocacy Manager at Amnesty International India.
In an interview with Reuters published on 14 August, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said his government considers all Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers in India as illegal immigrants, including those registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Earlier, in a circular issued to all state governments and union territory (UT) administrations on 8 August, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the “detection and deportation of such illegal immigrants from Rakhine state, also known as Rohingyas, is a continuous process”.
The MHA advised all states and UTs to “sensitise all the law enforcement and intelligence agencies for taking prompt steps in identifying the illegal immigrants and initiate the deportation process expeditiously and without delay”.
UN Expresses Concern over India’s Stance on Rohingya Refugees
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed concerns about India's plans to deport Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, his spokesperson said, emphasizing that refugees should not be returned to countries where they fear persecution once they are registered.
Deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters on Monday:
Obviously, we have our concerns about the treatment of refugees. Once refugees are registered, they are not to be returned to countries where they fear persecution.
Haq said UN principles of non-refoulement applies in this case. According to these principles, no nation shall expel or return a refugee in any manner to territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
When asked which agency would convey this message to India, Haq said the first point of contact will be through the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
The Rohingya refugees, who are largely Muslim and live in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, are a minority group who have faced decades of discrimination, repression and violence at the hands of the Myanmar authorities.
Rijiju had said that according to available data, more than 14,000 Rohingyas registered with the UNHCR, are presently staying in India.
"However, some inputs indicate that around 40,000 Rohingyas are staying in India illegally and the Rohingyas are largely located in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan," he had said.
The Home Ministry had said that infiltration of Rohingyas from the Rakhine state of Myanmar into Indian territory, especially in recent years, besides being a burden on the limited resources of the country, also aggravates security challenges posed to India.
(With inputs from PTI)
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