Syed Khalique Ahmed
NEW DELHI—The issue of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, thousands of whom have taken refuge in India, is again in the news. More than a million Rohingyas left Myanmar and took shelter in neighbouring countries following the genocide launched by the Myanmarese Army in 2017 on the pretext that Rohingyas had resorted to terrorism against the state.
The Government in Myanmar, a Buddhist-majority nation, does not accept Rohingyas as natives of Myanmar but as ethnic Bengalis who settled down in Myanmar. Rohingyas, most of whom are concentrated in the Rakhine state, have been disenfranchised and their citizenship has also been cancelled.
After a military crackdown, about nine lakh Rohingyas migrated to neihgbouring Bangladesh where they are living in tents provided by international agencies and the United Nations. As per UN figures, about 15,000 of them, however, crossed over to India and are scattered in different states, from West Bengal to Jammu and Kashmir. A few hundred of them have taken shelter in Delhi.
The recent controversy about Rohingyas arose after Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted on August 17 that Rohingya migrants living in hutments and in squalid conditions will be shifted to EWS flats in Bakkarwala, near Nangloi, in Western Delhi, bordering Rohtak district of Haryana. He also said that they would be provided 24-hour security and also the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) identity cards.
But his announcements through a tweet from his official Twitter handle created a storm in BJP as well as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi. Their leaders immediately came out in open opposing Puri’s announcements. As Rohingyas happen to be Muslim, allotting flats to them with round-the-clock security at the new location was certainly indigestible for the BJP playing anti-Muslim politics, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia opposed the proposal strongly saying that Rohingyas have entered India illegally and must be deported. BJP and its leaders as well as the Modi government have the same stand with regard to Rohingyas and have been insisting on their deportation to Myanmar from time to time.
As the issue did not fit into the political parametres of the party and had the potential to cause huge anger in its constituency all over the country, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) within hours of Puri’s tweets issued a statement clarifying that “MHA has not given any directions to provide EWS flats to Rohingya illegal migrants at Bakkarwala in New Delhi.
MHA statement also clarified that “The Government of Delhi proposed to shift Rohingyas to a new location,” shifting the blame on the Government of Delhi for the proposal to allot flats to Rohingyas. Sisodia retorted by saying that the July 29 meeting that cleared the allotment of EWS flats to Rohingyas was attended by officials from the Centre and Delhi police under the chairmanship of the Delhi Chief Secretary, without keeping the elected government of Delhi in the loop. According to Sisodia, the Delhi chief secretary was to send the report of the meeting to the Lieutenant Government of Delhi who is directly under the MHA.
The MHA statement further said that “MHA has directed the Government of Delhi to ensure that the Rohingya illegal foreigners will continue at the present location at Kanchan Kunj, Madanpur Khadar as MHA has already taken up the matter of deportation of illegal foreigners with the concerned country through the Ministry of External Affairs.”
The home ministry also informed the Delhi government that “Illegal foreigners are to be kept in the Detention Centre till their deportation as per law. Stating that “the Government of Delhi has not declared the present location as a Detention Centre”, the MHA directed the Delhi government to declare the location of Rohingyas as detention centre immediately.
After the MHA statement, Puri immediately withdrew his announcement, saying that the “Home Ministry’s press release with respect to the issue of Rohingya illegal foreigners gives out the correct position.”
The statements of the Home Ministry and withdrawal of claims by Puri indicate that the Modi government does not want to give refugee status to Rohingyas. Hence, they would not be allotted flats.
India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention of 1951
Modi’s government has time and again said that India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention of 1951 and hence, it is not obligatory on its part to shelter Rohingyas and grant them refugee status. And BJP leaders have been accusing Rohingyas of being a security threat to the country. When the policies of the party in power and its government is very clear, what prompted the officials of the Delhi government and Delhi police officials to clear a proposal to allot flats to the Rohingyas? Delhi deputy chief minister Sisodia has rightly demanded a probe into the issue.
Deportation of Rohingyas
The government has made several efforts in the past to deport Rohingyas. However, the Supreme Court stayed the deportation orders of the government. Rohingyas are also unwilling to return to their country for fear of persecution as the Government of Myanmar does not recognize them as their citizens.
As the Government of India has not signed the 1951 UN Convention on refugees, foreign refugees in India are governed by The Foreigners Act, 1946, The Citizenship Act, 1955, The Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939, The Passport (Entry into India) Act. However, it treats illegal foreign migrants differently from different countries. While it does not force Tibetans to return to their native place and has also formulated a policy for Tibetan migrants for the sale of land on a lease basis and renting of houses and shops, there is no such policy for Rohingyas. The Indian government is also very lenient to Sri Lankan Tamil illegal migrants and Afghans who have left their country due to fear of persecution by the Taliban. But the Government of India is very harsh with Rohingyas. There are more than one lakh Tibetan illegal migrants, and about one and a half lakh Sri Lankan Tamils in India without refugee status. However, the government is not very hard with them.
According to the UN, there are about 15,000 Rohingyas registered with the UNHCR in India and they have been issued ID cards. However, the Home Ministry officials say that UNHCR can issue cards but it does not mean that the Government of India would accept them as refugees and grant them refugee rights.
