What is India’s policy on the Rohingya?

GS Paper 2

Syllabus: International Relations, Challenges to the internal security of India (GS3)

Source: The Hindu

 Directions: Go through the article once, not directly relevant but linking issues (such as India’s laws about Refugees, and International Convention may be important)

Context: The Union Housing Minister tweeted that Rohingya refugees would be shifted to flats meant for economically weaker sections (EWS)

• The Minister said “India respects & follows the UN Refugee Convention 1951 & provides refuge to all, regardless of their race, religion or creed.

Rohingyas:

• Rohingya, an ethnic group, mostly Muslim, hail from the Rakhine province of western Myanmar and speak a Bengali dialect.
• Myanmar has classified them as “resident foreigners” or “associate citizens.
• They were forced to leave Myanmar in large numbers after several waves of violence, which first began in 2012.
  • • • The Rohingya first came to Delhi in 2012.

What is the process of deportation?

 Have any Rohingya been deported?

• Human Rights Watch (HRW) report: As per it, since October 2018, India has deported 12 Rohingya to Myanmar, “claiming that they left voluntarily.

 Status of Rohingya in India:

• Minister of State for Home: The then Minister of State for Home informed Parliament that there are around 40,000 Rohingya in India, of which around 5,700 are in Jammu and also in Telangana, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan.
• UN refugee agency: Of these, only 16,000 are said to be registered with the UN refugee agency.
  • • • The MHA claimed that the exact number is not known as many of them enter the country clandestinely.

What is India’s stand on refugees?

• India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol.
• All foreign undocumented nationals are governed as per:
  • • • The Foreigners Act, 1946
      • The Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939
      • The Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920
      • The Citizenship Act, 1955.

Illegal Migrants:

• Foreign nationals who enter the country without valid travel documents are treated as illegal migrants.

 Refugee:

• Under the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees and the subsequent 1967 Protocol, a refugee is any person who is outside their country of origin and unable or unwilling to return owing to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.

Insta Links:

Rohingya

Foreigners Act, 1946

Mains links:

Link the issue with the debate around Human Rights Vs  National Security. Link it with Rights of Refugees and constitutional Provisions regarding it.   Also, controversy regarding Citizenship Act is important here.

Q. Analyze internal security threats and transborder crimes along Myanmar, Bangladesh and Pakistan borders including the Line of Control (LoC). Also, discuss the role played by various security forces in this regard. (UPSC 2020)

Prelims Links: