Supreme Court To Hear Plea Of 43 Rohingyas Sent Back By India

A 16-year-old girl without her parents, a 50-year-old woman with cancer, and a 22-year-old woman with just out of uterus-surgery: these are three of the 43 Rohingyas that India has dropped in international waters바카라� 12 nautical miles from Myanmar바카라� with no food, no supplies, just a lifejacket. At least 40 of these people had official UN Refugee cards.

These are the allegations in a petition before the Supreme Court of India filed on May 10, and is coming up for an urgent hearing on May 16, Friday.

According to the petition, filed by Advocate-on-record Satya Mitra, last week, Delhi police detained 43 Rohingya refugees who were registered with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees India under the pretext of collecting biometric data.

The police picked up the Rohingyas in vans and buses from various locations including Utham Nagar, Shaheen Bagh, and Vikaspuri around 8pm on May 8, says the PIL. 

In Uttam Nagar, over 15 officers came to search for two Rohingya refugees. One of them was in the hospital with his wife who had just had a miscarriage and was going through a womb cleaning procedure. When he was informed that the police was looking for him, the man left his wife in the hospital and report to Mayapuri Police Station.

The second man could not be found and the police then threatened his wife with arrest if she failed to locate him. The man returned home that night and was subsequently taken to the police station. He has alleged that the cops assaulted him in custody. Photos of his bruises are enclosed with the petition, and show his back with black and blue marks and cuts as long as three to four inches.

Thereafter, 바카라�at around 2:00 AM, three officers from the Mayapuri Police Station returned to the building. They behaved inappropriately with the women present, used abusive language, and aggressively searched their homes. The officers, who appeared to be heavily intoxicated, attempted to physically assault the women,바카라� the PIL says.

The cops kept the refugees in custody for 24 hours without filing any charges. Thereafter they were transferred to the Inderlok Detention Centre. 바카라�Authorities claimed (sic.) that biometric facilities were only available at that location and that the refugees would be released following the procedure,바카라� says the petition. The detainees were never returned to their families.

바카라�Women and children are not even given any food or are not allowed to get any food from outside. Even the detainees with new born children are not being provided with food, water or milk at the Inderlok Detention Centre,바카라� the petition alleges.

When the detainees were not released into the families바카라� custody after 24 hours, they inquired and were told that the people had been deported. A voice message from one of the detainees to his family narrates a harrowing tale, which is described in the petition as well.

The 'deportees' were transported to airports and flown to Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Later, they were forcibly put on naval ships with their hands tied and eyes blindfolded. They remained in that condition throughout the journey. 

When the naval ship reached  reaching the maritime border near Myanmar, the refugees 바카라� including children, women, the elderly, and individuals with serious health conditions such as cancer 바카라� 바카라�were thrown into international waters, effectively abandoned to die,바카라� says the petition.

According to the PIL, the family members and community leaders of the Rohingyas, children have been separated from their mothers. 바카라�A 16-year-old girl who was separated from her family before abandoning her into the international waters near the Myanmar coast,바카라� says the PIL, adding that a mother and daughter were also deported without their male family members.

This news reached the community in Delhi because 바카라�One of the female detainees, who somehow managed to contact relatives in India, reported that she and others were sexually assaulted and groped by officials prior to being thrown into international waters,바카라� the petition adds.

According to the PIL, those who could contact their families told them that officials said they were being dropped near Indonesia. However, 바카라�Left stranded, the refugees were forced to swim toward a nearby shoreline using the lifejackets provided. Upon arrival, they were devastated to discover that they had reached Myanmar.바카라�

Rohingyas are refugees primarily due to severe persecution and violence they have faced in Myanmar, especially in Rakhine State.

Speaking to Outlook Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves explained that while India is not a signatory of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the Supreme Court of India has ruled that refugees have Article 21 rights in India. That is the right to life. 바카라�In the case of Rohingyas, they had to because the Myanmar military conducted a genocide against them. The Supreme Court in its NHRC v State of Arunachal Pradesh judgement said that refugees have the right to life. So this deportation is contrary to Article 21; it is effectively a death sentence,바카라� said Gonsalves.

He added that, 바카라�they ought not to have been deported. That deportation should have been stopped it was elementary, elementary in law. And the fact that it happened is totally wrong and unconstitutional, contrary to Article 21.바카라�

Having heard the news, the UN has launched an inquiry into the matter.

바카라�The idea that Rohingya refugees have been cast into the sea from naval vessels is nothing short of outrageous. I am seeking further information and testimony regarding these developments and implore the Indian government to provide a full accounting of what happened,바카라� said a statement by Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. 

The case is also listed before Court number 2 in the Supreme Court on Friday as item 238. 

Speaking to Outlook, Meenakshi Ganguly, Deputy Director of the Human Rights Watch India said: 바카라�The Indian government should immediately investigate and punish those that authorised and executed this shameful and unlawful detention and reparation of registered Rohingya refugees. Dumping them unceremoniously in the sea near the coast also violates basic human rights principles. We hope that the Supreme Court will intervene urgently to protect Rohingya refugees, who had to flee Myanmar because of the worst of atrocity crimes, and will be at grave risk if they return.바카라�