West Bengal child rights commission moved the Supreme Court on Thursday challenging the Centre’s decision to deport Rohingya Muslims who are staying in the country to Myanmar.
West Bengal State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBSCPCR), in its plea before the top court, said, in the state of West Bengal there are 24 Rohingya children in Shelter home and 20 children residing in correctional homes with their mothers and they are less than 6 years of age. They have travelled by road from Myanmar through Bangladesh to India and taken shelter here and the Supreme Court needs to intervene against their arbitrary deportation back to Myanmar .
The petition adds , the proposed deportation of the children is against the constitution of indian and the principle of Non-refoulment , which prohibits sending back refugees to the country where they will face persecution.
The petition also challenges Central government notification asking for identification and deportation of all Rohingyas living in India to Myanmar. Rohingyas are being “systematically tortured and killed”, the child rights panel said adding that even the United Nations has described them as the “most persecuted community in the world”.
The Supreme Court is already seized of a public interest petition filed by two Rohingya Muslim refugees challenging Indian government’s decision to deport an estimated 40,000 people of the community who fled alleged persecution in Myanmar. While the hearing on their plea is scheduled on October 3, it is unclear when the child rights panel’s petition will come up for hearing before the top court.
Earlier this week, the centre had told the top court that many Rohingya refugees have links with the Islamic State and Pakistan’s spy agency ISI, posing a “serious security threat” to India.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier this week, the centre had told the top court that many Rohingya refugees have links with the Islamic State and Pakistan’s spy agency ISI, posing a “serious security threat” to India.
{{/usCountry}}The government also said if allowed to stay, the Rohingya refugees would exhaust natural resources meant for Indians that could culminate in hostility towards them and lead to social tension and law and order problems.
It said the plan to deport Rohingya refugees was a policy decision and the court should desist from interfering.
Former RSS ideologue and Rashtriya Swabhiman Andolan leader KN Govindacharaya had also moved the Supreme Court seeking to intervene in the pending petition on Rohingyas. He has opposed the plea of two Rohingya refugees saying they are a burden on country’s resources and pose serious threat to national security.