On Thursday, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear on March 25, a plea alleging the detention of hundreds of Rohingya refugees in Jammu and the proposal to deport them to Myanmar.
“The Jammu police have detained several hundreds of Rohingyas. The Centre is saying that they are going to deport them. First, the detention is illegal. They are recognized as refugees under law. And if they are deported to Myanmar, they will be subjected to genocide,” Advocate Prashant Bhushan mentioned before the Chief Justice of India.
Therefore, the SC bench took note of Prashant Bhushan’s submissions that the detained Rohingyas may be deported to Myanmar where the Army has taken over and violence is taking place.
Meanwhile, Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta submitted that Bhushan’s submissions were ‘factually wrong’.
“Ok, then we will hear the Rohingya matter on Thursday,” said the bench which also comprised justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.
Earlier, on March 11, an interim plea was filed in a pending PIL seeking immediate release of detained Rohingya refugees in Jammu and restrain the Centre from deporting them.
The plea also sought direction to the Ministry of Home Affairs to expeditiously grant refugee identification cards through the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) for Rohingyas in informal camps.
The application filed by Mohammad Salimullah, a Rohingya refugee through advocate Bhushan, said that it is filed in public interest in order to secure and protect the right against deportation of refugees in India.
The plea said that it is filed to protect rights guaranteed under Article 14 and Article 21, read with Article 51(c) of the Constitution, against the deportation of Rohingya refugees who have taken refuge in India after escaping widespread violence and discrimination against their community in Myanmar.
Thus, the plea urges the court to ‘release the detained Rohingya refugees immediately and direct the Union Territory government and the Ministry of Home Affairs to expeditiously grant refugee identification cards through the FRRO for the Rohingyas in the informal camps’.
