Thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled to India after violence rocked the western Rakhine region of Myanmar
Even as Rohingya Muslims move the Supreme Court (SC), the Centre stated emphatically on Tuesday that the community members were illegal immigrants, who needed to be identified and deported.
Criticising the international human rights organisations for being unnecessarily harsh towards the Government of India, Minister of State for Home, Kiren Rijiju, asserted that nobody should preach India on the issue as the country has absorbed maximum number of refugees in the world.
"I want to tell international organisations that whether the Rohingyas are registered under the United Nations Human Rights Commission or not, they are illegal immigrants in India," Rijiju said. His comments have come on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached Myanmar, home to Rohingya Muslims, for his maiden two-day visit.
Thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled to India after violence rocked the western Rakhine region of Myanmar. Nearly 14,000 Rohingyas living in the country are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), while about 40,000 have been estimated to be staying illegally. None of them wants to go back to Myanmar, fearing severe reprisal and genocide.
"As per law, they stand to be deported because they are illegal immigrants. We are a nation with a great democratic tradition. India has absorbed the maximum number of refugees in the world, so, nobody should give India any lessons on how to deal with refugees," Rijiju said, adding that "India is not going to throw them in the sea or shoot them but would deport them legally".
Taking a strong position on the reported criticism of the government's stand on the issue internationally, Rijiju said: "We are following the legal path. Then why are we being accused of being inhuman?"
He said the Home Ministry has instructed all state governments to constitute a Task Force to identify Rohingya Muslims and start the process of their deportation.
Meanwhile, two Rohingya immigrants, one of them having last-stage blood cancer, have approached the SC, urging to direct the Central government to not deport them to Myanmar.
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