Supreme Court to hear petition on Rohingya deportation

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on September 4 a writ petition to stop the deportation of 40,000 Rohingya Muslims, who had taken refuge in India, to Myanmar on the ground that they are illegal immigrants.

A bench of Chief Justices Dipak Misra and justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud agreed to the request of counsel Prashant Bhushan, who made a `mention’ for urgent listing of the writ petition filed by Mohammed Salimullah and others for stay of deportation.     

The petitioners said they are seeking SC intervention to secure and protect their right against deportation, in keeping with the Constitutional guarantees under Article 14 and Article 21, read with Article 51(c) of the Constitution, which protects against arbitrary deportation. The petition said that the Rohingya refugees had taken refuge in India after escaping their home country Myanmar due to the discrimination, violence and bloodshed against this community. The petitioners have been  recognised by UNHCR in India in 2016 and have been granted refugee I-cards.

It was submitted that recently the Union minister of state for home affairs, Kiren Rijiju, told Parliament that the central government had directed state authorities to identify and deport illegal immigrants including Rohingya, who face persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. An estimated 40,000 Rohingya are living in India and are even registered with the UN refugee agency in India. The petitioners submitted that they escaped Myanmar due to the violent discrimination against them there.