India's Supreme Court has ordered the deportation of
seven Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar.
The seven men, who have been detained since 2012 for
illegally entering India, were scheduled to be deported on Thursday.
Amnesty International criticized the court decision,
calling it a "dark day for human rights India."
"This decision negates India’s proud tradition of
providing refuge to those fleeing serious human rights violations. It endangers
the most persecuted population in the world and is bereft of any empathy,”
Amnesty India's Aakar Patel said in a statement. "The Narendra Modi
government must work with the UNHCR so as not to renege on basic human rights
commitments.”
About 40,000 Rohingya have settled in India to escape
persecution and violence in Myanmar, where they are considered illegal
immigrants from Bangladesh and are denied basic rights. India's Supreme Court
is considering a legal challenge to a government order issued last year to
return all Rohingya to Myanmar, citing national security concerns.
More than 700,000 members of the mostly Muslim Rohingya
have fled to neighboring Bangladesh from Rakhine State since the largely
Buddhist government of Myanmar began a widespread crackdown across the region
in August 2017 in response to of series of attacks committed by Rohingya militants.
International observers have accused the Myanmar military
of burning villages and committing mass rape, torture and murder. The U.N. has
referred to the situation as a “textbook case of ethnic cleansing.” A special
U.N. fact-finding mission called for General Min Aung Hlaing, the
commander-in-chief of Myanmar's army, and five other generals, to be tried for
genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Source: VOA