Hounding Rohingyas
India deports seven Rohingya men to Myanmar, attracting sharp criticism from human rights organisations and striking fear in the minds of Rohingya refugees living in the country.
AFTER the Indian government deported seven Rohingya men to Myanmar, the Rohingya community in India is in the grip of fear and uncertainty about its future. The Rohingyas in India, who live in squalid conditions in refugee camps across the country, know that they will face the worst forms of persecution in Myanmar.
Sabber Ahmad of the Rohingya Human Rights Initiative (ROHRINGYA) told Frontline: “We would like to request the government to not send us back. Our sisters were raped and our homes were burned there. We are here because we escaped genocide. If peaceful conditions develop back home, we will ourselves go back; no one wants to remain stateless. But going back now is fraught with risks of persecution.”
The deportation from India took place on October 4 after the Supreme Court refused to stay their forcible return to their country. Mohammad Jalal, Mokbul Khan, Jalal Uddin, Mohammad Younis, Sabbir Ahamed, Rahim Uddin and Mohammad Salam were arrested in 2012 on the grounds of illegal entry into Indian territory and kept in a detention centre in Silchar, Assam. The Assam Police handed them over to the Myanmar authorities at the border in Moreh, Manipur.
As the Rohingyas were being taken to the Myanmar border, the Supreme Court heard a petition filed by the advocate Prashant Bhushan pleading to halt their deportation, saying they had fled to India from
INDIAN AND MYANMAR
their home state of Rakhine to escape violence and discrimination in Myanmar.
Human Rights Watch and other organisations denounced the deportation. Amnesty India said: “These seven men are at grave risk of being subjected to serious human rights violations by the Myanmar government.”
Meenakshi Ganguly, the South Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said: “Forcing any Rohingya back to Myanmar now puts them at grave risk of oppression and abuse. The Indian government has disregarded its long tradition of protecting those seeking refuge within its borders.”
A three-judge bench comprising the Chief Justice of India, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, and Justices Sanjay Krishan Kaul and K.M. Joseph rejected the plea to stop their forcible return. Prashant Bhushan requested the court to allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) access to the men to ascertain whether they really wanted to go back to Myanmar. When he told the bench that the Rohingyas faced the risk of persecution if sent back and it was the court's responsibility to protect their lives, Chief Justice Gogoi shot back: “You do not have to remind us of our responsibility, we are aware of it.”
Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the bench that Myanmar had given the men identity certificates, temporary travel documents valid for a month and accepted them as citizens. Human Rights Watch countered this ar-