The fate of the Rohingya refugees in India hangs in the balance as the Narendra Modi government sees them as a threat to national security although police verification of refugees camping in Jammu has proved to the contrary.
INDIA has a choice to make. It can either deport the Rohingya to Myanmar and participate in a genocide or accept them as refugees and show some moral fortitude as Bangladesh has done. If it chooses the first option, the risks of international condemnation and loss of face are real. The second option will be consistent with India’s policies on refugees from Sri Lanka, Tibet and other countries. While India does not have a law on refugees, it has issued long-term visas to the Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar. Around 16,500 Rohingya have also been issued United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees identity cards, recognising them as refugees after proper verification.
Already, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, has criticised the Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju for his comment on deportation of the Rohingya. In his opening statement at the 36th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Al Hussein said: “I deplore current measures in India to deport Rohingyas at a time of such violence against them in their country. The Minister of State for Home Affairs has reportedly said that because India is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention, the country can dispense with international law on the matter, together with basic human compassion. However, by virtue of customary law, its ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the obligations of due process and the universal principle of non-refoulement, India cannot carry out collective expulsions or return people to a place where they risk torture or other serious violations.”
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