Arakan News Agency
A senior government official told Reuters it aims to deport some 40,000 Rwandan Muslims in the country as illegal refugees, including those registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Kiren Rijiju, the state’s secretary of state for internal affairs, told parliament last week the central government had given guidance to state authorities to identify and deport illegal refugees, including Rohingyas, who are persecuted in Myanmar, which has a Buddhist majority.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued ID cards to about 16,500 Rohingyas in India to protect them from “harassment, arbitrary arrest, detention and deportation”.
But Rijiju, a senior minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s national government, said in an interview earlier this week that UNHCR’s refugee registration had nothing to do with the matter.
“They register and we can not stop them. But we are not a signatory to the Refugee Convention. ”
“All of them are illegal refugees and there is no justification for them to live here, and any illegal immigrant must be deported,” he said.
The Office of the High Commissioner in India said that the principle of not sending refugees to a place where they might face danger was part of international norms and binding on all States whether or not they had signed the Refugee Convention.
Myanmar does not grant citizenship to Rohingyas, those who have centuries of roots in the country.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Myanmar, many of whom fled to Bangladesh before some crossed into Hindu-majority India.
A senior government official told Reuters it aims to deport some 40,000 Rwandan Muslims in the country as illegal refugees, including those registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Kiren Rijiju, the state’s secretary of state for internal affairs, told parliament last week the central government had given guidance to state authorities to identify and deport illegal refugees, including Rohingyas, who are persecuted in Myanmar, which has a Buddhist majority.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued ID cards to about 16,500 Rohingyas in India to protect them from “harassment, arbitrary arrest, detention and deportation”.
But Rijiju, a senior minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s national government, said in an interview earlier this week that UNHCR’s refugee registration had nothing to do with the matter.
“They register and we can not stop them. But we are not a signatory to the Refugee Convention. ”
“All of them are illegal refugees and there is no justification for them to live here, and any illegal immigrant must be deported,” he said.
The Office of the High Commissioner in India said that the principle of not sending refugees to a place where they might face danger was part of international norms and binding on all States whether or not they had signed the Refugee Convention.
Myanmar does not grant citizenship to Rohingyas, those who have centuries of roots in the country.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Myanmar, many of whom fled to Bangladesh before some crossed into Hindu-majority India.
