The Rohingyas are illegal immigrants and not refugees who had applied for asylum in India, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said at a seminar organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in New Dehi on Thursday.
Mr. Singh asked why some people were objecting to the deportation of Rohingyas when Myanmar was ready to accept them. “The Rohingyas are not refugees. They have not come here after following proper procedures. No Rohingya has applied for asylum. They are illegal immigrants,” he said.
India would not violate any international law by deporting Rohingyas as it was not a signatory to the UN Refugees Convention 1951, he said.
The NHRC recently issued a notice to the Centre on the plan to deport the Rohingyas residing in various parts of India.
According to the Commission, from the human rights angle its “intervention is appropriate” in the matter.