A day after Rajnath Singh said that Rohingyas have started entering Kerala, a ‘secret’ communication from the Railway Protection Force stated that many Rohingyas are coming to Kerala by train.
According to a report in TheNewsMinute, the communication is dated September 26, a day before Rajnath Singh’s speech in Kerala. The communication lists out 14 trains on which Rohingyas were reportedly travelling. The communication was sent by Principal Chief Security Commissioner of RPF To all his divisional commisioners.
The notice states: “Input indicates that huge number of Rohingyas (an ethnic group of Myanmar's Rakhine province), are travelling from every corner of North East states and ultimately heading towards Kerala, especially in the south bound trains.”
On Thursday, calling all Rohingya in India "illegal immigrants”, Rajnath Singh said state governments have been asked to observe their movements and obtain their personal details so they could be deported to Myanmar.
Talking tough on the issue, he said all states including Kerala have been asked to collect data related to Rohingya as they have moved to different parts of the country.
Singh, who recently said all Rohingya in India were "illegal immigrants" as none of them had applied for asylum as refugees, asked opposition parties not to make it a "political issue".
"I appeal all the political parties not to make the issue of national security a political issue. The presence of Rohingya is confined not only to the northeastern states.
They have reached south Indian states including Kerala," Singh told a meeting of the BJP's Kerala state council here.
"The Centre has directed the states to be cautious.
The states have been directed to observe their movements.
They should not get documents that could help them prove they are Indian citizens," the minister said.
He said the issue will be taken up with the Government of Myanmar through diplomatic channels after securing complete details from states.
Addressing a seminar organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recently,Singh had wondered why some people were objecting to the deportation of Rohingya when Myanmar was ready to take them back.
"The home ministry has clarified its position through its affidavit (in the Supreme Court) that these are illegal immigrants and they will be deported. The Rohingya are not refugees.
"There is a procedure to get refugee status and none of them followed this procedure. No Rohingya has got asylum in India nor anyone has applied for it. They are illegal immigrants," he had said.
Hundreds of minority Rohingya have been killed in the northern Rakhine province of Myanmar by the military in alleged ethnic cleansing, setting of an exodus with lakhs taking shelter in camps in Bangladesh. Many of them are also living in India.
Singh had earlier said India would not be violating any international law if it were to deport Rohingya as New Delhi is not a signatory to the UN Refugees Convention, 1951.
Meanwhile, Centre has asked all states to take biometric details of Rohingyas and other illegal immigrants living in their jurisdiction as part of a country-wide security exercise, Home Ministry officials said.
The move has been taken so that the illegal immigrants can be identified as they move to different parts of the country.
The state governments have been told to instruct the local police to capture the biometric details of Rohingyas and other illegal immigrants, a senior Home Ministry official said.
Around 14,000 Rohingyas living in the country are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, while about 40,000 are said to be staying illegally.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh had said in Parliament in July that some Rohingya Muslim migrants in India have been found indulging in illegal activities and maintained that security forces have been deployed to stop their infiltration into the country.
The official said capturing the biometrics details does not mean that they will be given any valid identification document.
Documents such as Aadhaar can be issued only to those non-citizens, who visit India legally and are residents in India for minimum six months but the Rohingyas, being illegal migrants, do not qualify for it, the official said.
The Supreme Court Wednesday had also directed the government not to issue Aadhaar card to illegal immigrants.
Calling all Rohingya in India "illegal immigrants", the home minister had said Thursday the state governments have been asked to observe their movements and obtain their personal details so they could be deported to Myanmar.
With inputs from PTI
