India’s Modi government insists that Rohingya Muslims are illegal immigrants and intend to be repatriated to their places of origin regardless of their lives and deaths.
India’s Supreme Court considered a Rohingya case on Friday, March 26, and the authorities in New Delhi took the opportunity to reiterate their position on the issue.
According to a report by our RFI correspondent Côme Bastin from India on Sunday (March 28, 2021), there has been a mass exodus of the Rohingya Muslim community in Myanmar since 2017 due to the crackdown. They now number at least 6,500 in India, mainly imprisoned in camps in the state of Jammu (État du Jammu).
India’s top judicial authority on Friday considered an asylum application filed by a Rohingya named Mohammed. The Rohingya asylum seeker was assisted by a prominent lawyer. The Indian lawyer asked authorities to grant asylum to all Rohingyas, but New Delhi said India is not a capital for illegal immigrants. Indian authorities argue that the Rohingya are a threat to national security and should be deported. The Supreme Court, for its part, delayed announcing its decision.
Rohingya’s lives are in danger
During the arguments, lawyers reiterated that such deportations are against the Indian constitution, given the violence and massacres the Rohingya have suffered in Myanmar. A U.N. rapporteur was also present, but was not allowed to speak. A head of the Indian Supreme Court said they (Rohingya) may be massacred, but one cannot stop it. India first needs to determine the Burmese nationality of the Rohingya before deportation.
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