BENGAL CHILD RIGHTS BODY MOVES SC FOR ROHINGYA KIDS

NEWDELHI:THE West Bengal child rights commission moved the Supreme Court on Thursday challenging the Centre’s decision to deport Rohingya Muslims, who are staying in the country, to Myanmar.

West Bengal State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, in its plea before the top court, said, in West Bengal there are 24 Rohingya children in shelter homes and 20 children residing in correctional homes with their mothers and they are less than six years of age.

They have travelled by road from Myanmar through Bangladesh to India and taken shelter here and the SC needs to intervene against their arbitrary deportation back to Myanmar .

The petition adds that the proposed deportation of the children is against the Constitution and the principle of Non-refoulement, which prohibits sending back refugees to the country where they will face persecution. It also challenges the Centre’s notification asking for identification and deportation of all Rohingyas living in India to Myanmar.

Rohingyas are being “systematically tortured and killed”, the child rights panel said, adding that even UN has described them as the “most persecuted community in the world”. The apex court is already seized of a public interest petition filed by two Rohingya Muslim refugees challenging Indian government’s decision to deport an estimated 40,000 people of the community who fled alleged persecution in Myanmar.

While the hearing on their plea is scheduled for October 3, it is unclear when the child rights panel’s petition will come up for hearing before the top court.