Our Correspondent/ New Delhi
The Government of India today told the Supreme Court that Rohingya refugees from Mayanmar were illegal immigrants and some of them were part of a sinister design of Pakistan’s ISI and terror groups such as the ISIS. Therefore, their presence in the country will pose a serious national security threat.
The Ministry of Home Affairs today made its stand clear in a much-awaited affidavit in the apex court, in which it also said the fundamental right to settle in any part of the country was available only to citizens and not the Rohingyas.
It categorically stated that the apex court should not invoke its jurisdiction, as the issue of Rohingyas fell under the exclusive domain of policy decision of the executive.
The government said it may file in sealed cover the details of the security threats and inputs gathered by the various security agencies in this matter.
The Centre said that since India is not a signatory to the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951, the obligations concerned to non-refoulement is not applicable.
The plea, filed by two Rohingya immigrants, Mohammad Salimullah and Mohammad Shaqir, who are registered refugees under the United Nations High Commission of Refugees (UNHCR), claimed they had taken refuge in India after escaping from Myanmar due to widespread discrimination, violence and bloodshed against the community there.
The SC bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra has fixed the PIL challenging the deportation of Rohingyas for hearing on October 3.
Telling the court that the presence of Rohingyas in India would be a drain on the resources of the country and would affect the rights of the people, the Centre on Monday pointed out that some of the Rohingyas had contacts with Pakistan-based terror outfits.
It said that due to the large influx of illegal immigrants from neighbouring countries, the demographic profile of the some of the bordering states had undergone a serious change.
Thousands of Rohingyas have poured into Bangladesh — and some into India — after fleeing a military offensive in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that a final decision on the fate of Rohingya refugees in India would be taken by the Supreme Court.
He said the matter was being heard by the apex court and “whatever decision will be taken, it will be taken by the Supreme Court”.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said the government’s decision to deport Rohingya refugees was in the nation’s interest.
“It is a sensitive matter. Whatever the government will do will be in nation’s interest,” Rijiju told reporters ahead of the Supreme Court hearing.