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Rohingya - The ‘illegal foreigners’

  • Posted By
    10Pointer
  • Categories
    Polity & Governance
  • Published
    19th Aug, 2022

Context

Recently, the Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs said Rohingyas are “illegal foreigners” and will be kept in a detention centre until their deportation.


About Rohingyas

  • Rohingya are an ethnic group, representing the largest percentage of Muslims in Myanmar and predominantly live in the Western Myanmar province of Rakhine.
    • They speak a dialect of Bengali, as opposed to the commonly spoken Burmese language.
  • An estimated 800,000 Rohingyas lived in Myanmar's western Rakhine State.
  • They are described by the United Nations (UN) as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.

Conflict

  • The Rohingya population is denied citizenship under the 1982 Myanmar nationality law. 
    • They have also denied the Rohingya the possibility of acquiring a nationality.
  • Myanmar’s military launched what it called a clearance campaign in Rakhine state in 2017 in the aftermath of an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group.
    • More than 700,000 Rohingya fled into neighbouring Bangladesh.
  • Myanmar’s security forces have been accused of mass rapes, killings and torching of thousands of Rohingya homes.

Rohingya immigrants in India

  • According to a Home Ministry estimate, around 40,000 Rohingya migrants live in different parts of the country, including Delhi.
  • In 2021, the government informed the Rajya Sabha that illegal Rohingya immigrants are staying in 12 states and union territories.
    • These States/UTs are – J&K, Telangana, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Karnataka and Kerala.

India’s Refugee Policy

  • India’s approach towards refugees is customary and a dynamic one having regard to prevailing socio-political conditions. 
  • Though India is not a party to 1951 convention or 1967 protocol it acceded to various Human Rights treaties including the UNHCR and it is obliged to protect the rights of refugees.
  • As per Indian law, there is no law to deal with refugees. 
    • Both illegal migrants & refugee categories of people are viewed as one and the same and are covered under the Foreigners Act, 1946. 
  • The constitution of India protects the refugees’ right to life with dignity includes-
    • Right against solitary confinement and custodial violence.
    • Right to medical assistance and shelter.

Verifying, please be patient.

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