India deports seven ‘illegal immigrants’ to Myanmar despite UN protest

By AFP
05 October 2018
India deports seven ‘illegal immigrants’ to Myanmar despite UN protest
(FILES) In this file photo taken on January 19, 2018 A Rohingya refugee cooks at a temporary shelter near the village of Baruipur, some 55km south of Kolkata. Photo: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP

India on Thursday went ahead with deporting seven Rohingya men to Myanmar, despite UN warnings that they faced persecution in the country.

The men, who had been in detention for immigration offences since 2012, were handed over to Myanmar authorities at a border crossing in India's northeast state of Manipur.

"Seven Myanmarese nationals have been deported today. They were handed over to the authorities of Myanmar at Moreh border post," said senior Assam police officer Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta.

Photos showed the seven men seated in a bus bound for the border in the remote hilly state bordering Myanmar's far northwest.

The UN had voiced concern that returning the men ignored the danger they faced in Myanmar, where for decades the Rohingya have been targeted in violent pogroms by security forces.

A UN special rapporteur had warned India risked breaking international laws on refoulement -- the return of refugees or asylum seekers to a country where they could be harmed.

Legal efforts to stymie their deportation failed when India's Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a petition on their behalf and upheld their status as illegal immigrants.

"Even the country of their origin has accepted them as its citizens," a three-judge bench said.

India's decision "to deport seven Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar is cruel and could put lives at risk of persecution including torture and potential death," said John Quinley III, a human rights specialist with Fortify Rights, a non-profit organisation.

New Delhi considers the Rohingya a security threat, pointing to intelligence which it says links the minority group to terrorist organisations.

The government had ordered last year that all Rohingya inside India -- New Delhi puts the figure at 40,000 -- be deported.

The Supreme Court is considering a petition challenging the order as unconstitutional.

The UN says there are 16,000 registered Rohingya in India.

© AFP