India is deporting seven Rohingya immigrants, who have been staying in Assam illegally, to their home country Myanmar today.
On Thursday, Supreme Court refused to entertain the fresh plea challenging the decision of the Centre to deport seven Rohingya immigrants, who have been staying in Assam illegally, to their home country Myanmar.
"Having considered the prayer, we would not like to interfere with the decision taken. The petition is dismissed," a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph said.
"Even the country of their origin has accepted them as its citizens," it said.
The bench rejected the plea made by one of the Rohingyas, who had filed an application seeking to restrain the Centre from deporting to Myanmar the seven Rohingyas lodged in a detention centre at Silchar in Assam.
The Centre told the apex court that the seven Rohingyas illegally migrated to India in 2012 and were convicted under the Foreigners Act
The Rohingya immigrants will be handed over to the Myanmar authorities in Moreh border post in Manipur on Thursday.
Earlier on Wednesday, a fresh plea was moved in the Supreme Court seeking to restrain the Centre from deporting to Myanmar the seven Rohingyas lodged in a detention centre at Silchar in Assam.
Here are all the details about who are Rohingyas and why is India deporting them:
1. Who are Rohingyas?
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The Rohingya people are a Muslim minority group residing in the Rakhine state, formerly known as Arakan. Myanmar does not recognise Rohingya as an ethnic group and insists that they are Bangladeshi migrants living illegally in the country. Rohingya in Myanmar are denied citizenship, freedom of movement and access to services such as health care and education. (Photo: Reuters)
2. Mynanmar's army launches massive crackdown in Rakhine State
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More than 650,000 Rohingyas fled Rakhine in August 2017 after Myanmar's army launched a massive crackdown in its northern state, retaliating the attacks by insurgents, Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on the country's police posts and a military base. Many reported killings, rape and arson on a large scale. The United Nations called the campaign a textbook example of "ethnic cleansing", a charge Myanmar denies. (Photo: Reuters)
3. Rohingyas in India
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According to the UN estimates, nearly 700,000 minority Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh and India to escape violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state since August 25 last year when the army launched a military crackdown. The Rohingyas, who fled to India after violence in the Western Rakhine State of Myanmar, are settled in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan. (Photo: Reuters)
4. UN chief Antonio Guterres calls for 'accountability' for the gross violations, abuses committed against Rohingyas
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UN chief Antonio Guterres has said that the Rohingya people are one of the most discriminated against people in the world, emphasising that there must be accountability for the gross violations and abuses committed in Myanmar's Rakhine state. "I have no doubt that the Rohingya people are one of the most, if not the most, discriminated against people in the world, lacking any recognition of their most basic rights, starting with the recognition of their right to citizenship by their own country Myanmar," he said. (Photo: AFP)
5. UN report
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A United Nations fact-finding mission reported last month that Myanmar’s military has systematically killed thousands of Rohingya civilians, burned hundreds of their villages and engaged in ethnic cleansing and mass gang rape. It called for top generals to be investigated and prosecuted for genocide.
The Senate has also followed the lead of the Commons in recognizing that the crimes against humanity committed by the Myanmar military against the Rohingya constitute a genocide. The UN team also criticised the Nobel Laureate's government for "acts and omissions" that had "contributed to the commission of atrocity crimes".
(Photo: Reuters)
6. What does Myanmar have to say about the UN report?
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Myanmar's army chief said the United Nations had no right to interfere in the sovereignty of the country a week after a UN probe called for him and other top generals to be prosecuted for "genocide" against the Rohingya minority. The defiant response is the army chief's first public reaction since a UN fact-finding mission urged the Security Council to refer Myanmar's top military brass to the International Criminal Court (ICC). No country, organisation or group has the "right to interfere in and make decisions over sovereignty of a country," Senior General Min Aung Hlaing told troops in, according to the military-run newspaper Myawady.
Myanmar's civilian government, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, had already rejected the report's finding as "one-sided" and "flawed" and dismissed a separate decision at the criminal court that found it had jurisdiction over the crisis.
(Photo: Reuters)
7. Why is India deporting Rohingyas?
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A large number of Rohingya refugees have taken shelter in India and Bangladesh, and are staying in refugee camps, often raising security concerns. In a communication to all states, the Union Home Ministry said the rise of terrorism in last few decades has become a serious concern for most nations as illegal migrants are prone to get recruited by terrorist organisations. In June, the Home Ministry wrote a letter to the Jammu and Kashmir government, saying, "Such illegal migrations poses serious challenges and has security implications since some of the migrants have been found to have indulged in illegal activities and are vulnerable to radicalisation.
The Rohingyas were illegal immigrants and not refugees who had applied for asylum in India, Singh had earlier said. "The Rohingyas are not refugees. They have not come here after following proper procedures. No Rohingya has applied for asylum. They are illegal immigrants," he said.
Singh had earlier asked five eastern states sharing boundaries with Bangladesh to be extra vigilant against influx of Rohingya and illegal immigrants through the porous Indo-Bangla border.
(Photo: Reuters)
