Govt: 40,000 Rohingyas to be deported

New Delhi: The decision to deport 40,000 Rohingya Muslims, who are illegal immigrants from Myanmar, has been taken keeping in mind national security threats, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday through an affidavit. It said that being a policy decision, the court should not interfere with it.

In a fresh affidavit filed on Monday on a batch of writ petitions filed by Mohammed Salimullah and others for a stay of deportation, the Centre said the continuance of the Rohingyas’ illegal immigration into India and their continued stay in India, apart from being illegal, was found to have serious national security ramifications and pose serious security threats.

Senior counsel Fali S. Nariman, Kapil Sibal, Rajeev Dhavan and Prashant Bhushan strongly opposed the statement to this effect by additional solicitor-general Tushar Mehta before a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, and sought permission to file a reply to the affidavit.

The bench, while asking the petitioner to reply, posted the matter for further hearing on October 3, and said the legal position, including the court’s jurisdiction, would be examined on that day. Mr Nariman submitted that if something untoward happened in the meanwhile, they would have the liberty to approach he court.

The ASG told the court that the government would place facts in detail, including inputs from security agencies, which the Centre has been receiving for many years as well as other information concerning national security in a sealed cover only for the perusal of the court.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh, meanwhile, said it was now for the Supreme Court to take a call on the issue. Speakiing on the sidelines of an event here, Mr Singh said: “An affidavit has been filed. Whatever decision is to be taken, it will be taken by the court.”

The Centre said some Rohingyas are indulging in illegal and anti-national activities — mobilisation of funds via hundi/hawala channels, procuring fake/fabricated Indian identity documents for other Rohingyas and indulging in human trafficking. They are also using their illegal network for illegal entry of others into India. Many of them managed to acquire fake/fraudulently obtained Indian identity documents such as PAN cards and voter ID cards.

It was also found by the Centre that many Rohingyas figure in the suspected designs of ISI/ISIS and other extremist groups targeting India, including in fanning communal and sectarian violence in sensitive areas of the country. It said the fragile northeastern corridor may be further destabilised by strident Rohingya militancy, that the Centre found was growing, if allowed to continue.

The affidavit said India was already saddled with a very serious problem of illegal migrants and was attempting to address this situation in the nation’s larger interest and keeping the country’s natural resources, the needs of India’s own population, national security and several other considerations in view.

It submitted that due to an already existing large influx of illegal immigrants from neighbouring countries, the demographic profile of some border states had already undergone a serious change, causing far-reaching complications and was having a detrimental effect on the fundamental and basic human rights of India’s citizens. There was an organised influx of illegal immigrants from Myanmar through agents and touts facilitating the illegal entry of Rohingyas into India, the government claimed.

The petitioners said they were seeking court intervention to secure and protect their right against deportation, in keeping with the constitutional guarantees under Articles 14 and 21, read with Article 51(c) of the Constitution, which protects against arbitrary deportation.

The petition said Rohingya refugees had taken refuge in India after escaping their home country Myanmar due to widespread discrimination, violence and bloodshed against them in their home state. The petitioners have been registered and recognised by UNHCR in India in 2016 and have been granted refugee identity cards.