Deporting Rohingyas: Indian rights commission to oppose

India's National Human Rights Commission has said it will oppose the move to deport Rohingya refugees staying illegally in the country when the Indian government submits its affidavit on the issue to the Supreme Court tomorrow.

"We will intervene in the matter on humanitarian grounds. We are a human rights body and if these persons [Rohingyas] are deported back to their country, we see it as a violation of human rights," NHRC chairperson and former Chief Justice of India Justice H L Dattu said.

The rights body is also likely to cite various orders of the apex court in India in which it has held that the fundamental right to life and liberty enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution applies to all, irrespective of whether they are Indian citizens or not, said sources.

The Indian government is expected to spell out its stand on Rohingya refugee deportation before the Supreme Court tomorrow.

While issuing a notice to the home ministry in August and criticising the government's decision to deport Rohingyas, the NHRC had stated that "India has been home to refugees for centuries. It has continued to receive a large number of refugees from different countries.

"Even though India is not a signatory to the 1951 Convention on Refugees and also the 1967 Protocol, it is a signatory to a number of United Nations and world conventions on human rights. Till today, the country has evolved a practical balance between human and humanitarian obligations on the one hand and security and national interests on the other," the NHRC had said.

Two Rohingya immigrants Mohammad Salimullah and Mohammad Shaqir, who are registered as refugees under the UNHCR, have moved the Indian Supreme Court, contending they have taken shelter in India after escaping from Myanmar due to widespread discrimination, violence and bloodshed against the community there.

They challenged their deportation on several grounds, including violation of international human rights conventions.