Delhi rules out tri-nation talks over Rohingya issue
A boy belonging to Rohingya Muslim community stands amidst the rubble of a burnt shop, at a makeshift settlement on the outskirts of Jammu, May 5, 2017REUTERS
On Friday an Indian government spokesman said, India is in talks with Bangladesh and Myanmar about its plan to deport around 40,000 Rohingyas
India has ruled out the possibility of any tri-nation talks among Bangladesh, India and Myanmar over the deportation of Rohingyas though several news media has reported claiming that India has planned to deport 40,000 Rohingyas.
“We’re not aware of any such discussion. We don’t know where you did get it,” UNB reported quoting a diplomatic source in New Delhi on Sunday.
Other diplomatic sources said India did not want to get involved in the Rohingya issue when Bangladesh made a request in the past.
Also Read- India in talks with Myanmar, Bangladesh to deport 40,000 Rohingya
During his recent Dhaka visit, Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Dr Yousef bin Ahmad Al Othaimeen reminded Myanmar that Rohingya people must be given full citizenship and basic rights.
“Rohingya people are denied their basic rights. They need to be recognised in giving their identity. They must return to their country. They must have their full citizenship,” he said.
The OIC chief called upon the Myanmar government to come up with a roadmap on how to go forward to settle the issue peacefully.
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India to deport all Rohingyas regardless of UN registration
- Reuters
- Published at 04:23 PM August 14, 2017
- Last updated at 04:40 PM August 14, 2017
A family, who says they belong to the Burmese Rohingya Community from Myanmar, eats their breakfast at a makeshift shelter in a camp in New Delhi, India, May 14, 2012
REUTERS
The UNHCR's India office said on Monday the principle of non-refoulement, or not sending back refugees to a place where they face danger, was considered part of customary international law and binding on all states whether they have signed the Refugee Convention or not
All of an estimated 40,000 Rohingya Muslims living in India are illegal immigrants, even those registered with the UN refugee agency, and the government aims to deport them, a senior government official told the reporters.
Junior interior minister Kiren Rijiju told parliament last week the central government had directed state authorities to identify and deport illegal immigrants including Rohingya, who face persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has issued identity cards to about 16,500 Rohingya in India that it says help them “prevent harassment, arbitrary arrests, detention and deportation”.
But Rijiju, a high-profile minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government, said in an interview on the weekend that the UNHCR registration was irrelevant.
“They are doing it, we can’t stop them from registering. But we are not signatory to the accord on refugees,” he said.
Also Read- India in talks with Myanmar, Bangladesh to deport 40,000 Rohingya
“As far as we are concerned they are all illegal immigrants They have no basis to live here. Anybody who is illegal migrant will be deported.”
The UNHCR’s India office said on Monday the principle of non-refoulement, or not sending back refugees to a place where they face danger, was considered part of customary international law and binding on all states whether they have signed the Refugee Convention or not.
The office said it had not received any official word about a plan to deport Rohingya refugees, and had not got any reports deportations were taking place.
The treatment of the roughly one million Rohingya in Myanmar has emerged as its most contentious human rights issue as it makes a transition from decades of harsh military rule.
The Rohingya are denied citizenship in Myanmar and classified as illegal immigrants, despite claiming roots there that go back centuries, with communities marginalized and occasionally subjected to communal violence.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled from Myanmar, with many taking refuge in Bangladesh, and some then crossing a porous border into Hindu-majority India.
Many have also headed to Southeast Asia, often on rickety boats run by people-smuggling gangs.
‘Procedure’
Rohingya are generally vilified in India and over the past few months, there has been a string of anti-Rohingya protests.
Rijiju declined to comment on the deportation process, even as some human rights activists question the practicality of rounding up and expelling thousands of people scattered across the country.
“There’s a procedure, there is a rule of law,” Rijiju said.
“We can’t throw them out just like that. We can’t dump them in the Bay of Bengal.”
India said on Friday it was in talks with Bangladesh and Myanmar about the deportation plan.
But deportation is likely to be difficult, given Myanmar’s position that all Rohingya need to be scrutinised before they can be allowed back in as citizens.
Myanmar officials were not immediately available for comment.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/2017/08/14/india-deport-rohingyas-regardless-un-registration/