The Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam government to issue ‘concrete instructions’ on the fate of 12 Rohingyas lodged in two jails for the past 12 years.
The division bench of justices N Kotiswar Singh and Malasri Nandi issued the order last week on two separate petitions filed by the Rohingyas who hail from Myanmar seeking either refugee status in India or deportation to the neighbouring nation.
“Since the petitioners have been languishing in jail for a long time, this court would not expect any further delay in the actions to be taken by the state authorities and would expect that the state government would come up with concrete instructions by the next date,” the order issued on December 16 read.
The court issued the directions following a request by Anita Verma, special counsel for foreigners’ tribunals in Assam, seeking two weeks by the Assam government on either to grant refugee status or deport the petitioners back to Myanmar.
The matter will come up for hearing again on January 10 next year.
One of the petitions was filed in 2017 by 10 Rohingyas, who belong to two related families, and are lodged in Tezpur jail in central Assam, which also houses other foreigners, for several years.
The petitioners - Saidur Rahman, his wife Tahara Begum and their three children, his brother Mahmad Ulla, his wife Rumana Begum and their three children - belong to Coundang village in Buthidaung of Rakhine state of Myanmar.
{{/usCountry}}The petitioners - Saidur Rahman, his wife Tahara Begum and their three children, his brother Mahmad Ulla, his wife Rumana Begum and their three children - belong to Coundang village in Buthidaung of Rakhine state of Myanmar.
{{/usCountry}}They were arrested for entering India in 2009 without valid documents and though they have served the sentences of 6 months imposed for illegal entry to the country, they have been languishing in jail without release.
The other petition was filed in 2017 by Azizul Haque (a Rohingya from Myanmar) and Md Habib Ullah (whose nationality is yet to be ascertained)—both lodged in the Goalpara district jail, seeking deportation to Myanmar.
Like the previous case, they too were arrested in 2009 for entering India illegally without valid documents and were sentenced to 6 months imprisonment but despite serving their sentences, they are still lodged in jail.