The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking steps to protect the rights of over 12,000 children among the Rohingya refugees in the country.
P.A. Mohammed Riyas, national president, DYFI, said being a signatory to the U.N. Convention of Child Rights, 1989, India had the responsibility to protect the health and educational rights of refugee children. The convention also mandated that the children should not be sent back to their motherland if their lives were under threat.
The Union government has decided to deport the Rohingya, calling them a “threat to national security”.
“India is bound to treat all children, including those who do not belong to the Indian nationality, with the rights enshrined under the Constitution. We decided to approach the court to correct the negative attitude of the Union government towards the refugee issue after a delegation of the organisation visited the various Rohingya refugee camps,” Mr. Riyas said.
The petition, a copy of which is available with The Hindu, was filed as per Article 32 of the Indian Constitution on October 3. It points out that the ‘principle of non-refoulement’ was binding on all States whether they have signed U.N.’s refugee convention (1951) or not. The customary law says refugees cannot be forcibly returned to a place where they face persecution or threats to their life or freedom.
“Myanmarese laws have rendered Rohingyas stateless. Hence they are left with no ‘home’ to return to. In this context, the deportation of the Rohingyan refugees is against international and humanitarian laws. India being a civilised democracy cannot push 40,000 human beings to death among which 10,000 to 12,000 are innocent children India is bound to protect as per the law,” the petition said.
K.R. Subhash Chandran, national legal cell convener, DYFI, who had earlier appeared for the All-India Kisan Sabha in the cattle trade ban case, submitted the plea on behalf of the organisation. Senior lawyers P.V. Surendranath and Resmita R. Chandran will appear in the case.