New Delhi: The Manipur Human Rights Commission has stayed the deportation of a Rohingya woman back to Myanmar, from where she fled, Scroll.in has reported.
Last year, Indian authorities had announced plans to deport Rohingya refugees currently lodged in detention centres made for undocumented migrants. There are over 16,000 Rohingya asylum seekers in India.
Starting from 2017, and even before, lakhs of Rohingya people began fleeing Myanmar, either by foot or in boats, to escape the Myanmar army’s targeted violence against the community. The United Nations has said this violence was perpetrated with “genocidal intent” and a day ago, the United States formally determined that Myanmar’s army committed genocide and crimes against humanity in its violence against the Rohingya minority.
Many who fled the country came to India.
The Manipur human rights body has said that the deportation of one Hashina Begum who was to be sent to Myanmar from Moreh town in the state would be a violation of the constitutional right to life.
Imphal-based NGO Human Rights Alert had filed a complaint with the Commission against Hashina Begum’s deportation. She was picked from a holding centre at Jammu’s Kathua sub-jail. Her husband and three children are still in Jammu’s holding centres.
The political situation in Myanmar – which is now ruled by a repressive military – and the fact that her family were going to be India and away from her were highlighted in the NGO’s plea.
The verdict was delivered by Khaidem Mani, acting chairperson of the commission, who also directed the state government and police to file action taken reports by March 24.
In April, last year, the news of India attempting to deport a 14-year-old Rohingya girl had made news. Eventually, Myanmar border authorities refused India’s request to take her back. The girl had arrived in India two years ago under ‘unclear circumstances’ and was being looked after by an NGO in Silchar, Assam. Her parents are at a refugee camp for the Rohingya in Bangladesh.
During the course of a Supreme Court hearing on the Rohingya issue, the then Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde had remarked, “The fear is that once they are deported, they may get slaughtered. But we cannot stop it…”
At this point, Bangladesh, where most Rohingya refugees landed from Myanmar, and the UN are consulting Rohingya refugees to determine if they will accept Buddhist-majority Myanmar’s offer to return home, nearly a year after a major repatriation plan failed.
This article first appeared on thewire.in
