SC ruling on Rohingya is against India’s commitments to international law It ignores India’s binding commitment to non-refoulement and obligations in prohibiting genocide. The recent order of the Supreme Court disposing of an application seeking the release of Rohingya refugees detained illegally in a sub-jail in Jammu and threatened with deportation to Myanmar, a country currently in the grip of a violent military coup, is bereft of any cogent legal reasoning and lacks an understanding of international law obligations and constitutional protections for refugees and devoid of humanity. The United Nations has termed the Rohingya as the world’s most persecuted ethnic minority. In August 2017, the Myanmar military launched a clearance campaign in the Rakhine state (home to the ethnic Rohingya), forcing over 7,50,000 of them to flee to neighbouring states, escaping a military operation that killed, burnt and wiped out entire villages. Thousands of women were raped and tortured and thousands of children orphaned. Fleeing genocide at the hands of the Burmese military and ultra-religious Buddhist mobs in their home state, about 40,000 Rohingya entered India in waves, and settled in refugee camps across the country. They live in deplorable conditions, with scant access to drinking water, electricity or sanitation. Recently, the home ministry has issued circulars to states sharing borders with Myanmar to push back refugees fleeing the military bloodbath. Pursuant to this, some states issued orders, later withdrawn, not to provide food, shelter or even essential medical care to the refugees. The government’s directive has been to identify, detain and deport these refugees. Around March, over 170 Rohingya refugees were detained in Jammu after a biometric verification drive. This despite the detained refugees having UNHCR refugee cards, granted after a process of ascertaining their protection needs and determining that they are indeed refugees who have fled persecution. The police entered the camps, rounded up and detained men, women, elderly and left children behind. Panic gripped this community as families were separated overnight, family members were reported missing and reports of starving and wailing children began flooding the media. It was clear that these detentions were part of the larger crackdown against the Rohingya, who are a largely Muslim community and hence treated with hostility by our government that refers to them as illegal economic migrants and a national security threat
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