The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that over 40,000 Rohingyas staying illegally in India pose a threat to national security as “many of the Rohingyas figure in the suspected sinister designs of ISI/ISIS and other extremist groups who want to flare up communal and sectarian violence in sensitive areas of the country…This situation is seriously harming the national security of the country.” The Government, therefore, urged the court not to interfere with the executive decision to deport these illegal immigrants.
Giving details of what investigating agencies have dug up so far against the Rohingyas, an affidavit filed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said, “The continuance of Rohingyas’ illegal immigration into India and their continued stay in India, apart from being absolutely illegal, is found to be having serious national security ramifications and has serious security threats.”
The affidavit was presented by Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who opposed a bunch of petitions that demand stay on Government’s plan to deport the Rohingyas back to Myanmar. The Government told the court Intelligence inputs suggested a possible eruption of violence against Buddhists in India by “radicalised” Rohingyas. The affidavit said the role of Rohingyas has surfaced in the mobilisation of funds through hawala channels, organised human trafficking, and procurement of fabricated PAN and voter identity cards.
The Rohingya refugees are represented by a battery of eminent lawyers led by Fali S Nariman, Kapil Sibal, Rajeev Dhavan, and Prashant Bhushan. The lawyers claimed that the refugees are protected under international laws and enjoy fundamental right under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. The SC Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra granted the Rohingyas time till October 3 to file their response. However, the court turned down their plea to issue notice on the petition in order to facilitate a response from National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
The SC Bench, also comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, said, “We will go through Centre’s response and see the legal position. Then we will decide what jurisdiction we can exercise in this matter.”
The Centre claimed that fundamental rights of Indian citizens are paramount and the first right to enjoy the country’s resources must be available to them and not to illegal immigrants. Further, the Centre submitted that India is not signatory to Convention on Status of Refugees and related Protocol, hence it is not bound to the principle of non-refoulement (not to refuse or drive back refugees).
The Additional Solicitor General came prepared to the court with sealed covers containing inputs from security agencies and details gathered during sensitive investigations since 2012, when the influx of Rohingyas into the country saw an upsurge.
The affidavit said, “Some of the Rohingyas with militant background are also found to be active in Jammu, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mewat, and have been identified as having a very serious and potential threat to the national and internal security of India.”
The Centre suspects that the continuance of these illegal immigrants, believed to have grown beyond 40,000, has the potential of “destabilising” the fragile North-Eastern corridor as there is an “organised” influx of Rohingyas through the North-East. They are helped by touts and agents operating in Benapole-Haridaspur and Hilli (West Bengal), Sonamora (Tripura), Kolkata, and Guwahati.