Union home minister, Rajnath Singh, on Thursday came out strongly against Rohingyas, and called them illegal immigrants. He said that it was wrong to call them as ‘refugees’ since they were ‘illegal immigrants’ who haven’t followed the procedure to be given the refugee status. He also said that India wouldn’t be violating any law by deporting Rohingyas.
“Calling illegal immigrants refugees citing human rights is a mistake that shouldn’t be made. We must understand that the Rohingyas who have entered India from Myanmar are not refugees. A procedure has to be followed to attain refugee status, which the Rohingyas haven’t followed,” Rajnath said.
The minister’s comments come days after the United Nations Human Rights Commission slammed India on its decision to deport Rohingyas. The UNHRC had said, “I deplore current measures in India to deport Rohingyas at a time of such violence against them in their country. Some 40,000 Rohingyas have settled in India, and 16,000 of them have received refugee documentation.
On Monday, the Centre had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court on its stand against the Rohingyas. It had called them a threat to national security and added that they may have links with terror groups in Pakistan.
“Continuance of Rohingyas’ illegal immigration into India and the continued stay has serious national security ramifications and threats. Centre has contemporaneous from security agencies inputs indicating links of some unauthorized Rohingyas with Pakistan terror organisations. Some Rohingyas are indulging in illegal/anti-national activities i.e. mobilisation of funds through hundi/hawala channels, procuring fake Indian identities for other Rohingyas and also indulging in human trafficking,” the affidavit said.
