India to send back Rohingyas to Myanmar

India has said that Rohingyas living in Jammu and Kashmir states will be sent back to Myanmar.

“The Rohingyas have no right to live in Jammu and Kashmir and therefore will be sent back at an appropriate moment,” Hansraj Ahir, state minister for home, was quoted by media as saying at a press conference in Jammu city on Thursday.

“We have asked the state government to collect all details of Rohingyas living in Jammu, their families, what business they do, how much threat they are to law and order problem, what kind of activities they are involved in, etc,” he said.

At a meeting held earlier, the minister asked senior civil and police officials to identify Rohingya families living in Jammu.

“I  have asked them to identify such people and gather complete information about them, including what kind of work they do and if they indulge in any anti-social or anti-national activity,'' he said.

Kirren Rijju, another state minister for home, recently told parliament that as per available data, more than 14,000 Rohingyas registered with the UN are staying in India. However, some estimates indicate that around 40,000 Rohingyas are illegally staying in India.

The Rohingyas are largely living in the country's Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and its adjacent areas and Rajasthan.

“Detection and deportation of illegal foreigners is a continuous process,” Rijijur had said adding the Indian government “is vested with powers to detect and deport any illegal foreign national under section 32-C of the Foreigner's Act, 1946.”

India's external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar recently said Rijiju's statement in parliament “has been misrepresented in different sections of the media and suggested that Rohingyas who have taken shelter in India are not being targeted.

“You go through the statement and you see what is mentioned there, it is not only about Rohingyas, it is talking about all illegal nationals who are staying in India. There are existing provisions under which these illegal nationals who belong to different countries and once they are certified that they belong to another country can be repatriated and this is happening with other countries as well,” he said.