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| UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres |
UNITED NATIONS: UN
Secretary General Antonio Guterres is concerned about India's plans to deport
Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, his spokesperson has said, underlining that
refugees should not be returned to countries where they fear persecution once
they are registered.
Minister of State
for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju had told Parliament last week that the central
government had directed state authorities to identify and deport illegal
immigrants, including Rohingyas, who face persecution in the Buddhist-majority
Myanmar.
"Obviously, we
have our concerns about the treatment of refugees. Once refugees are
registered, they are not to be returned back to countries where they fear
persecution," Guterres' deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters here
yesterday.
Haq was responding
to a question on India's plans to deport Rohingyas from Myanmar regardless of
whether they are registered as UN refugees or not.
Haq said UN
principles of non-refoulement applies in this case. According the these
principles, no nation shall expel or return a refugee in any manner to
territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his
race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or
political opinion.
When asked which
agency would convey this message to India, Haq said the first point of contact
will be through the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Rijiju had said that
according to available data, more than 14,000 Rohingyas, registered with the
UNHCR, are presently staying in India.
"However, some
inputs indicate that around 40,000 Rohingyas are staying in India illegally and
the Rohingyas are largely located in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh,
Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan," he had said.
The Home Ministry
had said that infiltration of (Rohingyas) from the Rakhine state of Myanmar
into Indian Territory, especially in recent years, besides being a burden on
the limited resources of the country, also aggravates security challenges posed
to India.
Source: http://toi.in/DcUxmZ7