Approximately 10,500 Rohingya Muslims have taken shelter in India

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ck-rohingya/article19694238.ece?homepage=true

Assam and Manipur have placed their forces on alert

The Centre is yet to spell out its stand on undocumented Rohingya but BJP-led State governments in Assam and Manipur have asked their police, especially in the border districts, to “push back anyone who tries to cross the border.”

While Assam shares a 262 km border with Bangladesh, three other northeastern States — Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland — are also front-line States. The BJP governments in Assam and Manipur have issued “alerts to mount extra vigil in the border areas.”

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is believed to have conveyed to the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and top officials of the State police to “push back if any Rohingya family tried to cross over the Bangladesh border, seeking refuge.”

The Manipur government, led by BJP’s N. Biren Singh, too has instructed the police to crack down in borders towns like Moreh that routinely see brisk cross-border trading. It is not uncommon to find Myanmarese traders residing in these areas on a temporary basis.

Intelligence inputs
Sources say the decisions by the State governments follow “intelligence inputs from the Centre that terror groups could use the refugee crisis to sneak in their members and pose a security challenge to the country.”

The intelligence input was discussed at a recent security review meeting held by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Assam Chief Minister, however, refused to spell out his government's position. “It is not a State issue but a national issue and we will follow what the Centre decides,” said Mr. Sonowal, while confirming that “his government has mounted extra vigil on the Indo-Bangla border.”

The Rohingya — a minority Muslim community in the Rakhine state of Myanmar on the border with Bangladesh — have been forced to flee the country following periodic ethnic clashes and crackdown by Myanmar’s Army. The latest bout of violence erupted last month, following an attack on a police post.

Around 3,00,000 Rohingya have sought refuge in Bangladesh since the August 25 crackdown on their settlements.

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http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...tells-dhaka/article19693743.ece?homepage=true

Caught in crossfire: A Rohingya girl looks from a house on the outskirts of Srinagar on Friday. She is a member of one of the 18 families from Myanmar living in Srinagar.

Delhi’s stand has shifted since last week, when the PM visited Naypyitaw

India on Friday sent another consignment of aid for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. The relief was shipped just hours after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj telephoned Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, assuring her that New Delhi has been putting pressure on the Myanmar government to ease the situation, a senior official in Ms. Hasina’s office told The Hindu.

“India and Bangladesh’s stand is aligned over the Rohingya issue,” said Nazrul Islam, advisor to Ms. Hasina. “Ms. Swaraj said India would push Myanmar both bilaterally and multilaterally to take back their refugees.”

The MEA declined to comment on the External Affairs Minister’s conversation, but didn’t deny the Bangladesh Prime Minister’s office’s version of what was said. According to Mr. Islam, who spoke on the telephone from Dhaka, the call was arranged during a meeting with the Indian High Commissioner Harsh Shringla regarding relief arrangements.

Ms. Hasina is due to leave for New York this weekend to attend the UN General Assembly (UNGA), where she “could” meet Ms. Swaraj, the advisor said.

A senior MEA official told The Hindu that India and Bangladesh are “in close touch” over the issue, but that it was “too early” to say whether India and Bangladesh will present a united front at the UNGA, where Bangladesh has made it clear it will call for international pressure on Myanmar.

A cautious line
The telephone call brings into sharp focus India’s continuing dilemma of balancing its interests between two neighbours — Bangladesh and Myanmar — over the issue, which has seen Delhi shift its position several times since last Thursday, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Myanmar for talks with State Councillor Aung San Suu Kyi. In the joint statement that followed, the wording on the Rohingya crisis reflected only India’s support to Myanmar in fighting terrorists. However, two days later, after interventions by the Bangladesh government, a visit to the refugee camp by Mr. Shringla, and a stern statement from the UN Human Rights Commissioner Zeid Hussain, the MEA issued another statement, expressing concern about the refugees.

“Myanmar has every right to fight terror within their country, but their terror problem cannot become India’s refugee problem, which it will, if Bangladesh is unable to cope with it, ” said the senior MEA official.

Deportation row
Adding to the complications for the MEA is the Ministry of Home Affairs’s move to deport 40,000 Rohingyas who fled to India during violence in 2012. The UNHRC has criticised the move and the Supreme Court will deliberate on it on September 18.

The MHA’s move has been particularly perplexing, as it has been unable to explain where the Rohingyas would be deported to, given that Myanmar has reportedly mined its borders to ensure they cannot return, and Bangladesh is filled to capacity with more than 800,000 refugees already. Myanmar refuses to accept around 1.3 million Rohingya that lived in its Rakhine state, bordering Bangladesh, as Myanmar citizens, and consequently, has refused to allow about 5,00,000 that fled earlier and 4,00,000 more that have fled in the last few weeks, to return.

Meanwhile India has launched operation Insaniyat (Humanity), demonstrating as it said in its reply to the UNHRC that criticised the deportation plan, that the concern for India’s national security does not mean a “lack of compassion”.

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Kolkata, September 15, 2017 21:19 IST
Updated: September 15, 2017 22:41 IST

Indian aid being being handed over to officials in Bangladesh. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...bangladesh-rohingya-camps/article19693737.ece

Packs contain food grains, cooking oil, soap and mosquito nets
Three government departments have collaborated in the last 48 hours to dispatch one of the largest relief consignments to southeast Bangladesh for the refugees streaming in from violence-hit Myanmar.

More than a hundred metric tonnes of relief material have already been dispatched, said a senior official of National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED).

Officials of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Indian Air Force (IAF) and NAFED are working round the clock to dispatch food materials, mosquito nets and soap to the camps.

“We have so far dispatched 110 metric tonnes of material marked for 8,000 families. We expect to reach about 70,000 families,” said Rohit Jaiman, a senior official of NAFED in Delhi.

Family packs

Food grains, pulses, sugar, salt, cooking oil, tea, milk powder, biscuits and noodles were put together in jute bags, with ‘Gift from People of India’ stitched on it. Each small jute pack contains food grains, besides soaps and a mosquito net.

“The first two consignments of 22,000 jute bags were supplied from Kolkata,” the MEA official said.

A C-17 aircraft, the IAF’s transport workhorse, carried the relief material to southeast Bangladesh, where reportedly more than one hundred thousand Rohingya refugees have arrived since the fresh spell of violence broke out on August 25.

“But that is the position. We would like Bangladesh to deal with the situation and we can provide relief on the basis of the request of the Bangladesh government as at least half a dozen countries are doing,” a senior central government official said.

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http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/sushma-calls-hasina/article19694834.ece
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called up Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday and told her that New Delhi was putting pressure on the Myanmar government to ease the situation, a senior official in Ms. Hasina’s office said. “India’s and Bangladesh’s stand is aligned over the issue,” said Nazrul Islam, adviser to Ms. Hasina. “Ms. Swaraj said India would push Myanmar bilaterally and multilaterally to take back the refugees.” The MEA declined to comment on the Minister’s conversation.

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http://www.deccanherald.com/content/633284/govt-should-see-rohingyas-refugees.html

If refugees from Tibet,Bangladesh and Sri Lanka can stay in India, why not the Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has said.

He also cited the case of Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who has taken shelter in India for over a decade now following threats from Islamic fundamentalists in her country.

Attacking the NDA government over its stance on Rohingyas, who are fleeing Myanmar's violence-hit Rakhine state, he said, "Is it humane that you want to send back those who have lost everything. This is wrong."

If Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen can take shelter in India, why not the Rohingya Muslims? he asked while addressing a gathering here late last night.

"When Taslima Nasreen became your sister, can't Rohingya become your brother, Mr Modi," Owaisi, the Lok Sabha member from Hyderabad, said.

The BJP government at the centre should not see the Rohingyas as Muslims but as refugees, he maintained.

"We want to tell the BJP government, don't look at them as Muslims. They are refugees," he said.

"India gave shelter to refugees from Tibet, those from Sri Lanka and Chakma refugees from Bangladesh," Owaisi said.

"When it was told that they (Lankan refugees) are taking part in terror, what was done? They were shifted from one camp to another," the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader alleged.

The Constitution of India gives right to equality and that applies to refugees as well, Owaisi said.

"The BJP government says we will send all Rohingyas back. We want to ask the Indian prime minister, under which law you will send them back, which law?" he asked.

 

[Hindustani78]

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September 16, 2017, 8:13 AM IST

Young man carried his parents on shoulders and walked barefoot for 7 days, to escape violence. Pic: Asia Pacific


A young Rohingya man set the example of being grateful towards parents. While escaping the violence in Rohingya, he carried his elderly parents on his shoulders in a double basket and walked barefooted for seven days.

Daily Sabah reports, the man said he could not leave his parents behind, and so he carried them over to the Bangladesh border. At an age which most people would be at school or work, he bears a heavier burden than many others like him.

This photograph may the most heart-wrenching one in the humanitarian crisis which surfaced on the web. When putting hopes and expectations in the relationships are dying, it has spoken a thousand stories. Of the very few humanitarian photographs, which have surfaced so far also include a Sikh man providing water and aid to the Rohingya children.

 

[Hindustani78]

New Delhi, September 18, 2017 14:15 IST
Updated: September 18, 2017 19:12 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...re-tells-sc/article19708554.ece?homepage=true

Rohingya refugee children attend a madrasa at a camp set up for the refugees on the outskirts of Jammu. File photo | Photo Credit: AP

The fundamental right to reside and settle in any part of the country is available to citizens only, the Centre says in its affidavit
The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that Rohingyas posed as a serious threat to national security with links to terror outfits, including the Islamic State.

The Centre’s affidavit, filed in the apex court registry, said unless the government took action now, illegal immigrants like Rohingyas would eat into the welfare meant for India's citizens.

The government said the decision to deport them (Rohingyas) fell within the exclusive domain of the government. The court should refrain from hearing them.

“Any indulgence shown by the highest court of the country would encourage the illegal influx of illegal migrants into our country and thereby deprive the citizens of India of their fundamental and basic human rights,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said in the affidavit.

“If anything untoward happens to us, we will come to you,” an unfazed senior advocate Fali Nariman, appearing for two Rohingyas representing their 40,000-strong community, insisted during the short hearing in court.

“Who has stopped you?” Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, heading a Bench comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud responded.

Chief Justice Misra however said the court will first have to “see the legal position, whether we have jurisdiction in this issue and what kind of jurisdiction we have”. The court posted the case for detailed hearing on October 3.

In its affidavit, the government accused the Rohingyas of taking advantage of the porous borders in the east with organised smuggling of people, human trafficking, mobilisation of hawala. Many of them have managed to acquire fake Indian identity cards like PAN card and voter cards, the government claimed.

The Centre said an organised influx of Rohingyas illegally enter India via Benapole-Haridaspur (West Bengal), Hilli (West Bengal) and Sonamora (Tripura), Kolkata and Guwahati. Appearing for Maitur Rahman, a native of of Assam, advocate Somiran Sharma intervened to argue in court that alowing the Rohingyas to stay may kindle ethnic tensions in the northeastern State.

Terror links
“Many of the Rohingyas figure in the suspected sinister designs of ISI/ISIS and other extremists groups who want to achieve their ulterior motives in India including that of flaring up communal and sectarian violence in sensitive areas of the country,” the affidavit said.

Rohingyas with militant background are found to be very active in Jammu, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mewat, it said. “Radicalised” Rohingyas may wreak violence on Indian Buddhists, the government warned.

But mostly, the government feared that the “illegal immigrants” would exhaust the exhaust national resources of India and deprive citizens “of their legitimate share in the employment sector, subsidised housing, medical and educational facilities”.

“The fundamental rights of Indian citizens would, therefore, be seriously violated... India, as a sovereign nation, has the first and the foremost constitutional duty and obligation towards its citizens...” the affidavit said.

The government said India is not a signatory to the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951 and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1967, and hence, is not obliged to follow its provisions.

The government quoted the 1955 Hans Muller case judgment by a Supreme Court Constitution Bench, which held that The Foreigners Act (of 1946) vests the Central Government with an “absolute and unfettered discretion” to expel foreigners.

 

[Hindustani78]

There is heavy patrolling by the Assam Rifles intensified along the Mizoram-Arakan (Myanmar) border in the state’s Lawngtlai district. File photo

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...gya-muslims/article19715475.ece?homepage=true

Mizoram shares a 404-km international border with Myanmar
Security has been beefed up and patrolling by the Assam Rifles intensified along the Mizoram—Arakan (Myanmar) border in the state’s Lawngtlai district, in view of the possibility of Rohingya Muslim militants and refugees attempting to enter the state.

A senior home department official said today that several meetings were held by the Mizoram police, paramilitary forces and intelligence agencies of both the central and state governments to review the security situation along the Myanmar border.

“Not a single Rohingya Muslim has so far entered Mizoram,” he added.

Mizoram shares a 404-km international border with Myanmar and a 318-km border with Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, around 170 refugees — mainly Christians — from Arakan in Myanmar, who entered Mizoram recently, had remained in the villages in the southern parts of the state, the official said.

The refugees had fled Arakan in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in the wake of clashes between the Myanmar Army and the Arakan Liberation Army.

September 19, 2017 19:42 IST
Updated: September 19, 2017 19:42 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ome-in-india-say-rohingya/article19715444.ece

Refugees in Delhi camp say they have lost faith in Aung San Suu Kyi

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi's assurances on Tuesday that Myanmar stood ready to start the verification process at any time to ensure repatriation of refugees who have fled to Bangladesh over the past month has been received by the Rohingya community living in Delhi with much scepticism.

Rohingyas living in a refugee colony near Kalindi Kunj said the leader in her address did not even once denounce the atrocities based on ethnicity that have been continuing for years in the Rakhine state and gave no guarantee to Rohingyas that they would be safe if they returned.

Mohammad Salim Ullah, who fled Myanmar for Bangladesh in 2005 before coming to India in 2012, said, “Aung San Suu Kyi’s has broken her silence only due to international pressure. So many people have died over the years and she has done nothing. We had a lot of faith in her earlier but she has given us no guarantees and has not done anything to give us any hope that we can return safely.”

Speaking of the threat of deportation from the Indian government, Mr. Salim Ullah said, “Any friendly person or country welcomes a guest with open arms and offer them biryani and kebabs to eat but if they overstay then the host will naturally not be that welcoming. The same is the situation in India where we were welcomed but as time has passed, the government is no longer as welcoming.” He adds that they will go to any country that welcomes them if deported, but they will never go back to Myanmar.

Sohail Khan. a fellow Rohingya who crossed over in 2012, said Ms. Suu Kyi has said there will first be a verification process and only then will they be given their nationality back. “What if we go back based on the assurances given by her and then find ourselves thrown into a camp? In India, we are living as refugees but we have the freedom to work, earn a living and lead a decent life. Back home we will only fear being killed as there is no rule of law.”

The Rohingyas also said that over the past month, in India, there has been a campaign to defame them by calling them terrorists and criminals. “In our camp, all we are bothered about is going to work and earning a living for ourselves. We fear that this name-calling will affect our children who will then for the rest of their life have to keep defending this tag,” said Mr. Salim Ullah.

Those living in the refugee camp in Delhi said they have not faced any problems from the police or neighbours due to the allegations that they are a threat to national security but in other places in India like Hyderabad and Jammu, some members of the community have raised complaints that the attitude of people who live in areas surrounding them have changed ever since the government has changed its stance.

“India has given us honour, a country to live in and a chance to earn a living; why would we want to attack India,” asked a refugee, requesting anonymity.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Home Affairs
21-September, 2017 16:28 IST
Union Home Minister inaugurates two-day NHRC National Seminar on Good Governance, Development and Human Rights

The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh said that in Indian culture, the focus has always been on duties and not on rights; if everybody attends to his duties, the rights of all automatically get protected. He was addressing at a National seminar on Good Governance, Development and Human Rights, organized by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) here today. He said that the concept of Human Rights in the centuries old Indian ethos is rooted in peace, unlike the West where it shaped up with conflict post- World War-II. The concept of protection of Human Rights in India is linked with the wellbeing of the whole universe, wherein all elements live in mutual coexistence peacefully. This, he said, reflects even in our spiritual and divine invocations.

Referring to the issue of governance, Shri Rajnath Singh said that any sovereign nation is free to take action against illegal migrants. He said that the issue of deportation of Rohingyas for India is not a matter of ego and confrontation but of principles. Those who, in the name of human rights, are expressing concern on the rights of others should bother first for the rights of the citizens of India. The citizens of the country have the first right on its resources and not the illegal migrants. Rohingyas are illegal migrants; they are not refugees for which a process is required to be completed, which they never followed.

He said that India is not a signatory to International Laws on Refugees or to the UN Refugee Convention 1951, hence, the question of its violation does not arise. The principle of non-refoulement would apply to Rohingyas only if, they were given asylum in India. He said that the Government is very clear on the issue and to this effect has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court. The Union Home Minister said the Government of India has extended aid to Bangladesh for the welfare of Rohingyas there. He described both Bangladesh and Myanmar as friendly countries and said that the State Counsellor of Myanmar, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi has raised a ray of hope by saying that her country is prepared to take back Rohingyas. He expressed the hope that Myanmar would take some solid steps in this direction at the earliest.

The Union Home Minister said that Good Governance, Development and Human Rights are an inseparable trio and the Government is committed to uphold them. Describing the seminar organized by the NHRC as very relevant, Shri Rajnath Singh said that development without bringing dignity to human life would be meaningless. He said that the PM Ujjwala Yojna was meant to ensure dignified life to crores of women and we believe development without dignity is of no use. He listed several measures and schemes introduced by the Government during the last three years, which are aimed at overall welfare of the people by bringing transparency and accountability in its initiatives so that benefits of welfare schemes reached out the real beneficiaries. He said that the Government aims to provide ‘Housing to All’ by 2022 and electricity to all villages.

Earlier, inaugurating the seminar, Shri Justice H L Dattu, Chairperson, NHRC said that the universality of Human Rights, their focus on human dignity and their concern for accountability make them uniquely appropriate for reshaping notions of development, cooperation, good governance and combating discrimination and exclusion to reach the goal of achieving a society where ‘Human Rights for All’ becomes a reality. He said that for any country to find its due place among civilized nations, the most important factors are eradication of poverty and provision of healthcare, education and equitable life opportunities to all without distinction. Unfortunately, even after more than half a century of independence, our country stands only at the fringe on all these counts. Justice Dattu said that there is a need to bring together politics, economics and culture in a more symbiotic relationship to constructively contribute to humanity so that the human being can become the pivot around which all governance and development activities, policies and programmes can revolve.

Shri Ambuj Sharma, Secretary General, NHRC, welcoming the participants, underlined the significance of the national seminar and how the Commission has been making efforts to strive for good governance both in-house and outside through its interventions and functioning. Dr. Ranjit Singh, Joint Secretary, NHRC in his introductory remarks emphasized the importance of good governance and development and how significant are these to the protection of human rights.

The Seminar is divided into five technical sessions spread over two days. These are being chaired by NHRC Members and participants include domain experts and top government functionaries from the Centre, State Governments and Union Territories. The discussion will focus on the role of media in civil society in promoting good governance and human rights, discerning indicators of good governance, global best practices and impact of information technology on good governance, service delivery mechanism and measures to enhance transparency and accountability, health and Swachh Bharat initiatives, new paradigm and challenges in good governance with an Indian perspective.

Union Minister for Law & Justice and Electronics and Information Technology, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad will deliver the valedictory address in the concluding session tomorrow.

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[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...-ram-madhav/article19729013.ece?homepage=true

NEW DELHI, September 21, 2017 19:23 IST
Updated: September 21, 2017 19:23 IST


BJP’s national general secratary says case of religious minorities fleeing persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh different from that of the Rohingya
BJP general secretary in charge of northeastern States, Ram Madhav, has dismissed suggestions that the Union government was speaking in different voices on the issue of Rohingya fleeing to India from Myanmar. Mr. Madhav said the “human rights concerns of 125 crore Indians” was guiding the government’s policies on the matter.

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Madhav also drew a line between the Rohingya influx from Myanmar and the granting of citizenship to Chakma and Hajong communities that settled in India in 1964 and 1969.

He also separated the case of religious minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan fleeing to India citing religious persecution being considered for citizenship from the case of the Rohingya, denying that it had anything to do with the latter being largely Muslim.

“There is no difference in the kinds of statement from the government on the Rohingya issue. Right from the beginning the government has been saying that the Rohingya issue for us in India needs to be tackled from the security perspective. There is a case pending at the Supreme Court and the government has already submitted an affidavit there. We have to handle it based on our experience of the last 3-4 years. We need to keep in mind the security concerns coming out of this influx of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. To those who talk of humanitarian issues, I want to say that for us the humanitarian concerns of 125 crore Indians are very important, their human rights, their life and their security is of paramount importance to us,” he said.

India did, however, send humanitarian assistance to Bangladesh where a large number of Rohingya have fled from Myanmar.

“As far as this issue of sending humanitarian assistance to Bangladesh is concerned, remember the request came from the Bangladesh government. When a neighbouring government, for whatever reasons, seeks our humanitarian support, as a good neighbourly gesture we should do that. One should appreciate this gesture of our government, as sought by the government of Bangladesh,” he said.

Being raised alongside the issue of the Rohingya coming into India, is the recent order of the Guwahati High Court granting citizenship to Chakma and Hajong refugees who had crossed over to India in the 1960s, which seems to have created unease in States like Arunachal Pradesh that see a demographic change being forced on it.

“In India, a number of States like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir and States in the northeast enjoy a special status, in the sense they have certain special rights under Article 370 and 371. Under that a citizen would not automatically become a domicile in those States. In Arunachal Pradesh the issue is over this domicile status. The Chief Minister (Pema Khandu) has written to the Home Ministry stating that those who have been settled in Arunachal Pradesh should be extended Inner Line Permit (ILP). Any Indian citizen can secure that, to go into Arunachal and spend time there. Such status can be extended is the recommendation of the CM. The Union Home Ministry is examining that,” he said.

He denied that the treatment being meted out to Rohingya fleeing Myanmar had any religious or political angle, despite the special status accorded to minorities fleeing Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

“As far as the Rohingya question is concerned it is not a religious or political issue, it is a question of people illegally entering India. There is a security angle involved in it. Even countries like Bangladesh, to which the Rohingya originally belonged before migrating to Myanmar, are saying that these migrants are a security threat. Whereas the Chakmas entered India in 1964, as an after-effect of our Partition. Many minority groups from erstwhile Pakistan had crossed over into India after religious persecution. They came over in 1964 and 1969. The Home Ministry has taken a view that if religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, out of persecution, come to India, they will not be treated as foreigners (intermediately), for the simple reason that at least Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of erstwhile India, and refugees from there subsequently may be considered for citizenship. This is the 2015 executive order issued by the Home Ministry. Thus their case is not the same as the Rohingya,” he said.

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New Delhi , September 21, 2017 12:30 IST
Updated: September 21, 2017 16:29 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ees-rajnath/article19726476.ece?homepage=true

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh addresses a National Human Rights Commission seminar in New Delhi on Thursday. | Photo Credit: V. Sudershan

The NHRC recently issued a notice to the Centre on the plan to deport the Rohingyas residing in various parts of India.
The Rohingyas are illegal immigrants and not refugees who had applied for asylum in India, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said at a seminar organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in New Dehi on Thursday.

Mr. Singh asked why some people were objecting to the deportation of Rohingyas when Myanmar was ready to accept them. “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.

India would not violate any international law by deporting Rohingyas as it was not a signatory to the UN Refugees Convention 1951, he said.

The NHRC recently issued a notice to the Centre on the plan to deport the Rohingyas residing in various parts of India.

According to the Commission, from the human rights angle its “intervention is appropriate” in the matter.

 

[Hindustani78]

By: AP | Updated: September 21, 2017 5:15 pm

This satellite photo provided by DigitalGlobe, taken on September 16, 2017 show the thousands of temporary shelters that have been erected in the Kutupalong area of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. (Source: AP)

http://indianexpress.com/article/wo...rohingya-refugee-camps-in-bangladesh-4854548/



Massive, makeshift refugee camps are sprawling over farms and open land in southern Bangladesh as more than 4,20,000 Rohingya Muslims flee violent attacks in their predominantly Buddhist homeland of Myanmar.

In a matter of weeks, thousands of temporary shelters have been erected in the Bangladesh district of Cox’s Bazar, according to new before-and-after satellite images released exclusively to The Associated Press on Wednesday. “Tents have sprung up all over the area. It’s a dramatic expansion,” said Stephen Wood, a senior imagery analyst at Westminster, Colorado-based DigitalGlobe, which used high-resolution cameras in space to take photos of the camps for the AP.

One photo showed a long traffic jam of cars going through the area, possibly relief workers on their way in, or government workers trying to install water or shelter systems. The images offer an expansive view of what journalists, government agencies and aid groups have been seeing firsthand. Existing facilities are overwhelmed by streams of desperate families walking overland or clambering out of boats because they fear for their lives following attacks that some world leaders call ethnic cleansing.

Until now, the assumption was that the size of existing refugee camps had doubled in the past few weeks. A Sept. 16 satellite image of just one camp, Kutupalong, shows it stretched about 3.9 square kilometers (1.5 square miles), about four times its former size.

The landscape continues to change, however. In recent days Bangladeshi officials have been ordering some refugees out of Kutupalong camp and into Balukhali camp, a few kilometers (miles) away. DigitalGlobe’s imagery showed that Balukhali has expanded dramatically as well. The images don’t capture every makeshift home, which some Rohingya don’t need because they’ve been taken in by Bangladeshi families.

The United Nations has airlifted in thousands of shelters. The large white plastic tarps, held up with metal tent poles, have no floors but do offer respite from the rain. And there aren’t nearly enough. Other arrivals build bamboo structures and buy thin plastic sheeting at local markets to stay out of the rain. Multiple families cluster under each of them, lacking food and cooking pots, blankets or even spare clothes. The U.N. says that unlike formal refugee camps, these new sites lack drinking water, toilets, soap or buckets.Many anticipated this crisis.

When Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party was elected in 2016 after more than five decades of military rule, the political shift offered a short, tense window of peace. But that quickly ended as Suu Kyi, a former political prisoner and champion of human rights, failed to protect Rohingya from violence.

Last year, military attacks set off by the killings of nine police officers at border posts prompted tens of thousands of Rohingya to flee into Bangladesh, and four new makeshift settlements formed. Security forces responded to another wave of insurgent attacks late last month with a sweeping crackdown that drove hundreds of thousands more Rohingya from their homes, which in many cases were burned.

Although they have lived in Myanmar for generations, Rohingya are generally barred from citizenship in the nation of 50 million, and instead live as some of the most oppressed people in the world. Rohingya arriving in Bangladesh this week have told the U.N. that more than 100,000 more people are still waiting to cross the border into Bangladesh.

On Wednesday, the Trump administration pledged $32 million in humanitarian aid _ food, medical care, water, sanitation and shelter. Of that, $28 million will go to the Bangladesh side and $4 million to Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

“We are urging the Burmese government to control the violence in the area, to cease attacks against civilians, and to create safe conditions so that the Rohingya that have fled feel safe to return,” said acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Simon Henshaw.

 

[Hindustani78]

The Sena also questioned the patriotism of those advocating refuge to the Rohingya community which is fleeing Myanmar.
india Updated: Sep 23, 2017 20:40 IST
Press Trust of India, Mumbai

People protest against the genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Thursday.(Arun Sharma/HT Photo)

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...s-shiv-sena/story-EsZ6w5pddh8fMAnGOfWveN.html

The Shiv Sena on Saturday said if India is forced to provide shelter to Rohingya immigrants under pressure from “vote-hungry” politicians, it would not bode well for Muslims in the country.

The Sena, an ally of the BJP, also questioned the patriotism of those advocating refuge to the community which is fleeing Myanmar.

“Having sympathy for these people for votes is the height of anti-nationalism. Already, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are living here in lakhs. If Rohingyas also get added now due to these vote- hungry politicians, it will not be long before what happened in Myanmar happens here as well. And in the process, Indian Muslims will be crushed,” the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.

Violent attacks allegedly by Myanmarese armymen have led to an exodus of Rohingyas from the western Rakhine state in that country to India and Bangladesh.

“At present, around 40,000 Rohingyas are living in the country. The Centre has told the Supreme Court that Rohingya Muslims have entered India illegally and are a threat to the nation’s security.

“The Centre also believes some of them have links with Pakistan’s (spy agency) ISI,” the Sena organ said.

“If somebody wants these people to stay and prosper here, do they have any patriotism in their blood? It is because of some selfish Muslim clerics that a common Muslim man is always under suspicion,” the Marathi daily added.

The Sena said those backing Rohingya Muslims should explain why they had to flee the neighbouring country.

Two days ago, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the Rohingyas are illegal immigrants and not refugees who have applied for asylum in India.

The Centre told Parliament on August 9 that more than 14,000 Rohingyas, registered with the UNHCR, are at present staying in India. However, aid agencies estimate there are about 40,000 Rohingya Muslims in the country.

 

[Hindustani78]

A life jacket, a mobile phone, a lighter and a torch, items that helped a Rohingya Muslim man Nur Karim to cross over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, lie on the floor at a shelter in Balukhali refugee camp, Bangladesh, on September 22, 2017. Bangladesh has imposed a ban on mobile phone use by the refugees, citing security considerations. | Photo Credit: AP

http://www.thehindu.com/news/intern...-ban-on-rohingya-refugees/article19746686.ece

Dhaka cites security concerns for the latest restrictions
Bangladesh has banned telecommunication companies from selling mobile phone connections to Rohingya refugees, citing security concerns for the latest restrictions, officials said Sunday.

Bangladesh’s four mobile phone providers were threatened with fines if they provide any of the nearly 4,30,000 newly-arrived refugees from Myanmar with phone plans while the ban is in force.

“For the time being, they [Rohingya] can’t buy any SIM cards,” Enayet Hossain, a senior officer at the Telecoms Ministry, told AFP on Sunday.

The decision on Saturday to impose a communication blackout on the stateless Muslim minority was justified for security reasons, said Junior Telecoms Minister Tarana Halim.

‘No’ to its own errant citizens

Bangladesh has already prohibited the sale of SIM cards to its own citizens who cannot provide an official identity card, in a bid to frustrate the organisational capacity of homegrown militants.

“We took the step [of welcoming the Rohingya] on humanitarian grounds but at the same time our own security should not be compromised,” Ms. Halim said, without elaborating on what specific risk the Rohingya posed.

Bangladesh’s telecoms authority said the ban could be lifted once biometric identity cards were issued to the newly arrived refugees, a process, the army said, that could take six months.

It is just the latest restriction imposed on the Rohingya, who have fled in huge numbers from violence in neighbouring Rakhine State into squalid camps in Bangladesh's southernmost Cox’s Bazar district in the past four weeks.

The nearly 4,30,000 refugees have been herded by the military into a handful of overstretched camps near the border, where tens of thousands live in the open without shelter.

Many have been evicted from squatting in forest and farmlands by police and soldiers, who have been ordered to keep the Rohingya from seeking shelter in major cities and nearby towns.

Roadblocks along major routes

Roadblocks have been erected along major routes from the camp zones, where a dire shortage of food, water, shelter and toilets is creating what aid groups describe as a humanitarian crisis.

Some 5,100 have already been stopped at these checkpoints and returned to the designated camps, police said.

“We have set up 11 check-posts across the Cox’s Bazar highway to stop the Rohingya refugees from spreading further toward the interior,” Cox’s Bazar police chief Iqbal Hossain told reporters.

 

[Hindustani78]

By: AFP | Yangon | Published:September 24, 2017 9:16 pm

Newly arrived Rohingya Muslim family, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, carry their belonging as they arrive at Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2017 (AP)

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...lames-killings-on-rohingya-militants-4859373/

Myanmar’s army said on Sunday that a mass grave of 28 Hindus had been discovered in violence-wracked Rakhine state, blaming the killings on Muslim Rohingya militants. The announcement could not be independently verified in an region that has been seized by communal violence since Rohingya militant raids on August 25 triggered a sweeping security crackdown.

“Security members found and dug up 28 dead bodies of Hindus who were cruelly violently and killed by ARSA extremist Bengali terrorists in Rakhine State,” a statement posted on the army chief’s website said. The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) is the group whose attacks on police posts triggered an army backlash so brutal that the UN believes it amounts to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority.

More than 430,000 Rohingya have fled the region to Bangladesh in under a month. Some 30,000 Hindus and Buddhists based in the area have also been displaced, with some saying were terrorised by Rohingya militants.

The army said that security officers found 20 dead women and eight men in the graves, including six boys under the age of ten. Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay confirmed the discovery of the 28 bodies on Sunday.

A senior police officer in northern Rakhine told AFP they had been “buried with 10-15 bodies in each hole.” The village where the army chief said the bodies were found, Ye Baw Kya, is near a cluster of Hindu and Muslim communities in northern Rakhine called Kha Maung Seik.

Hindus from the area have told AFP that militants swept into their villages on August 25, attacking people who stood in their way, killing many and taking others away into the forest.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...-bangladesh/story-5PxgG45uC8ABTDiff32x2L.html

Nearly 620 tonnes of food material were on Monday shipped from the Kakinada Deep Water Port in Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari district for distribution among the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

Faced with an onslaught from the Myanmar army, scores of Rohingya people have recently fled the Rakhine state of that country and taken refuge in Bangladesh.

On the directions of the Government of India, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) has arranged for 62,000 food packets, each containing five kg of parboiled rice, two kg of dal, edible oil, sugar, salt, tea and milk powder, East Godavari district’s Collector Kartikeya Misra said.

The packets also contain a mosquito net each.

“As per the suggestions of the NAFED, we have arranged for the food material and got it packed at two different locations in the district. The cargo is being shipped to Chittagong (in Bangladesh) and is expected to reach there in two days,” Misra said.

The assistance to the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh is being provided by New Delhi as part of its humanitarian aid.

Earlier this month, a heavy-lift transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force had ferried around 55 tonnes of relief material for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

 

[Hindustani78]

New Delhi , September 26, 2017 21:54 IST
Updated: September 26, 2017 21:54 IST

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/bsf-pushes-back-rohingya-from-tripura/article19758132.ece

17 illegal migrants caught and handed over to police; 75 vulnerable locations have been identified on a 21-km stretch in the State

On instructions from the Home Ministry, the Border Security Force recently pushed back four Rohingya Muslims who were trying to cross over an unfenced stretch on the Bangladesh border in Tripura.

This is the first instance of Rohingya being pushed back since the Home Ministry circular on August 19 to identify and deport them.

An official said the BSF had identified 75 vulnerable locations on a 21-km stretch in Tripura.

NHRC opposition

The National Human Rights Commission has opposed the government’s move to deport and push back the Rohingya and sought a report from the Ministry.

The Hindu reported on September 15 that Assam and Manipur had asked the State police and the BSF to push back any Rohingya attempting to enter the country.

“This year, 17 Rohingya Muslims were caught along the Tripura and Assam border. They were handed over to the police and action is being taken against them,” said a BSF official on condition of anonymity.

Asked how they identified the Rohingya, he said, “The Bengali dialect they speak is different from that spoken in India and Bangladesh. It is not difficult to identify them. They could have travelled from the Cox Bazar area [a large number of Rohingya has taken shelter here] in Bangladesh all the way to the Tripura border.”

Centre’s affidavit

In its affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on September 18, the Centre said Rohingya were a threat to national security and “some of the unauthorised Rohingya immigrants had linkages with Pakistan-based terror organisations.” It said there was an organised influx of “illegal” immigrants from Mynamar through agents and touts facilitating illegal immigration of Rohingya into India via Benapole-Haridaspur (West Bengal), Hili (West Bengal), Sonamora (Tripura), Kolkata and Guwahati.

The first four points are authorised immigration checkpoints and manned by customs, immigration and BSF officials.

Asked to clarify if Rohingya were using authorised immigration checkpoints to enter India, a Home Ministry spokesperson said “illegal immigrants avoided the legal routes”.

“Such illegal immigration takes place surreptitiously through different possible entry points,” the spokesperson said.

In June, the Home Ministry constituted yet another committee to examine various methods to curb the misuse of free movement along the Myanmar border, a friendly country, with which it shares unfenced borders and unhindered movement of people across the border.

The committee, headed by Rina Mitra, Special Secretary, Internal Security, visited the border areas last week.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/635423/ins-gharial-enters-chittagong-port.html

JBS Umanadh, Hyderabad, DH News Service Sep 28 2017, 21:26 IST

Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla, High Commissioner of India, Md Zillur Rahman Chowdhury, Dy Commissioner and District Magistrate of Chittagong, Cmde Md Musa, Commanding Officer, BNS Issa Khan Base Cdr Chittagong, at the Handing Over Ceremony. DH Photo

With approximately 900 tons of Relief Material, INS Gharial arrived at Chittagong Port onmThursday.

The relief material is part of the humanitarian assistance being provided by the Government of India to Bangladesh as an aid to Rohingya refugees.

The relief material that the ship is carrying is customised in family packets containing rations, clothes, mosquito nets and daily necessary essentials. The present relief aid is likely to cater to 70,000 families approximately.


On completion of unloading of relief material, the ship is scheduled to undertake a bi-lateral passage exercise with Bangladesh Navy ships on departure from Chittagong on 30.

INS Gharial is the second indigenously built Landing Ship Tank (Large) commissioned on 14 Feb 1997 and is part of the Eastern Fleet under the Eastern Naval Command. Carrying four Landing Craft Assault (LCAs) and a helicopter, the ship is capable of undertaking Amphibious Operations. A versatile platform, the ship has been deployed for many Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) missions in the past including for delivery of relief material/ supplies to Chittagong post ‘Cyclone Sidr’ in 2008.

 

[Hindustani78]

Stating that India has seen the press reports about these graves and looked at the official statement by the Myanmarese government, External affairs ministry spokesperson said the country condemns terrorism in all forms.
india Updated: Sep 29, 2017 21:43 IST
Press Trust of India, New Delhi

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...erpetrators/story-vU7ftNW1lfBDUCFoAGQAkO.html

Hindu people cry near the dead bodies of their family members in Yebawkya village, Maungdaw on September 27.(AFP)

Amid reports of bodies of Hindus being found in mass graves in Myanmar, India on Friday hoped that the country will bring to justice those involved in the crime.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said as per the statement of the office of Myanmar’s state counsellor, all the bodies found in these graves are of Hindus.

Stating that India has seen the press reports about these graves and looked at the official statement by the Myanmarese government, Kumar said the country condemns terrorism in all forms.

“We emphasise that there is no justification to any act of terrorism which targets civilians in this conflict. We hope authorities will be able to bring to justice perpetrators of the crime. We hope the families of the victims will be provided all possible assistance so as to instill a sense of security and return of normalcy,” he said.

According to reports, these mass graves were found in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

“We have conveyed our concerns about the affected people to Myanmar. The affected families should be given appropriate compensation,” said Kumar.

He also said that India and Bangladesh are in “close touch” over the Rohingiya issue.

 

[Hindustani78]

Nagpur, September 30, 2017 12:22 IST
Updated: September 30, 2017 12:33 IST

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...han-bhagwat/article19776357.ece?homepage=true

RSS chief condemns cow vigilante attacks; says the problems faced by people displaced from Kashmir are yet to be addressed
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat today asked the Central Government to keep national security in mind while taking a decision on Rohingya who are seeking shelter in the country.

“We have been facing the problem of illegal Bangladeshi migrants and now Rohingyas have infiltrated into our country,” Mr. Bhagwat said while addressing the RSS’ annual Dussehra event here.

Giving shelter to Rohingyas will not only put pressure on our jobs, but also pose a threat to national security, he said.

“Any decision regarding Rohingyas should be taken by keeping in mind the threat to national security,” he said referring to the people who have fled from violence-hit Rakhine state in Myanmar.

Kashmir
On the Kashmir issue, Mr. Bhagwat said the problems of the people, who were displaced from the Kashmir Valley in 1990s, are yet to be addressed.

“Necessary constitutional amendments will have to be made and old provisions will have to be changed in that state,” he said at the event, where BJP patriarch L.K. Advani and Union minister Nitin Gadkari were among those present.

“Only when the constitutional amendments are done, can the residents of Jammu and Kashmir be completely assimilated with the rest of India,” Mr. Bhagwat said, apparently hinting at Article 370 which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Cow vigilantism
The RSS chief referred to the issue of cow vigilantism, saying “it is reprehensible that some some people have been killed allegedly by gaurakshaks”.

At the same time, many people have been killed by cow smugglers, he said.

Mr. Bhagwat said the issue of cow protection is beyond religion and “many Muslims have sacrificed their life for protection of the cow just as people of Bajrang Dal have”.

Economy
On the economic situation, the RSS chief said that the interests of small, medium industries and self-employed businesses should be protected as they make the “biggest contribution” to the economy.

Mumbai stampede
Mr. Bhagwat offered condolences to the victims of the stampede in Mumbai yesterday.

“We all empathise with the families of our brethren who have lost their lives and those who have got injured in yesterday’s incident at Mumbai,” he said.