IndiaTomorrow.net,
New Delhi, Aug 19: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday issued a notice to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs over reported plans of the central government to deport about 40,000 Rohingya immigrants living in the country. The rights panel has sought report within four weeks.
“The Commission has observed that refugees are no doubt foreign nationals but they are human beings and before taking a big step, the Government of India has to look into every aspect of the situation, keeping the fact into focus that the members of the Rohingya community, who have crossed into the Indian borders and are residing here for long, have a fear of persecution once they are pushed back to their native country. The Commission has held that from the human rights angle, its intervention is appropriate in the matter,” said NHRC in a statement.
The Commission has also observed that the Supreme Court of India has consistently held that the Fundamental Right enshrined under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution regarding Right to Life and Personal Liberty, applies to all, irrespective of the fact whether they are citizens of India or not.
“India has been home to refugees, for centuries. It has continued to receive a large number of refugees from different countries. India is not a signatory to the 1951 Convention on Refugees and also the 1967 Protocol. But India is a signatory to a number of United Nations and World Conventions on Human Rights. Till today, the country has evolved a practical balance between human and humanitarian obligations on the one hand and security and national interest on the other,” said NHRC.
Most of the Rohingya Muslims, who fled to India after violence in the Western Rakhine State of Myanmar, have settled in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan.
A Home Ministry official has reportedly said that India was going ahead with plans to deport Rohingyas and is in discussions with Myanmar and Bangladesh governments on the issue.
According to media reports, the government is also planning to set up “detention centres” for the refugees and if required “push them back” over the India-Myanmar border, if Myanmar refuses to accept the refugees back.
