Indian Supreme Court orders not to deport Rohingyas detained in Jammu

India's Supreme Court today ordered not to deport Rohingyas detained in Jammu to Myanmar without following the prescribed process.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde, passed the order on a plea seeking the immediate release of detained Rohingya refugees in Jammu and a direction to restrain the Indian government from deporting them to Myanmar, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

The Indian government had on March 26 opposed the plea saying India cannot be the "capital" for illegal immigrants.

During the arguments, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, had said Rohingya children were subjected to killing, maiming, and sexual exploitation by the Myanmar military which has failed to respect international humanitarian law.

On March 6, on instructions of the Indian home ministry, the Jammu and Kashmir administration had started a verification drive of Rohingya and moved at least 150 of them to a holding centre, pending their deportation.

An estimated 7,000 Rohingya refugees reside in Jammu and Kashmir with their numbers having gone up since the late 2000s when they first arrived in the region after fleeing Myanmar where they were facing religious persecution.

Violent attacks allegedly by the Myanmar army have led to an exodus of Rohingyas from Rakhine state in that country to Bangladesh and India.