India sends 7 Rohingyas to border to be deported to Myanmar

International Desk: Indian police sent seven Rohingya Muslims to the border on Wednesday (Oct 3) to be deported to neighbouring Myanmar for illegal entry, officials and activists said, the first such move against the community.

An estimated 40,000 Rohingya, a stateless Muslim minority, live in India after having fled persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar over the years. The seven men being sent back had been held in prison since 2012 for illegal entry into the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government has described illegal Rohingya immigrants as posing a national security threat, and asked state governments last year to identify and deport them.

Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, additional director general of police in the northeastern state of Assam, said that the seven men would be handed over to Myanmar authorities at the border on Thursday morning.

"This is a routine procedure, we deport all illegal foreigners," Mahanta said.

But a UN human rights official said the forcible return of the Rohingya violates international law.

Source: Agencies

risingbd/Dhaka/October 03, 2018/A K Azad