India has deported the first seven Rohingya Muslims back to Myanmar after the government ruled that they should be treated as illegal immigrants rather than qualifying for asylum.

The men were handed over to Burmese officials at the border between the two countries, just hours after the Supreme Court rejected a last minute plea from their lawyer.

The men were arrested in 2012 in the eastern city of Assam, and have been held in prison since then on charges of illegal entry.

Each man carried a single bag of belongings when they were removed from prison for deportation, an officer speaking on condition of anonymity told the Associated Press. Bhaskar J Mahanta, a police official in Assam, confirmed the men had been “handed over to the authorities of Myanmar” at a border post in Manipur.

At the Supreme Court, defence lawyer Prashant Bhushan argued that the men feared reprisals if they returned to Myanmar, and called for the UN high commissioner for refugees to be allowed to intervene in the case.

Though they were arrested some five years before the brutal August 2017 military crackdown that led 700,000 Rohingya to flee Rakhine state in northern Myanmar, the men said the persecution dated to much earlier and they had fled “genocide” like the rest.

But the Supreme Court ruled in the government’s favour on the basis that, unlike most Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, the men would be accepted as citizens. A government lawyer told the judges that Myanmar had given seven certificates of identity and one-month visas to facilitate the deportation.

Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Show all 30 1 /30 Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya women and children wait in line for a food distribution of super cereal at Action Against Hunger Getty Images Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees gather near the fence in the "no man's land" zone between Myanmar and Bangladesh border AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya women cry as they shout slogans during a protest rally to commemorate the first anniversary of Myanmar army's crackdown AP Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures A Rohingya Muslim child holding an umbrella while under the rain AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees cry as they pray during a gathering to commemorate the first anniversary of Myanmar army's crackdown which lead to a mass exodus of Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh AP Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Police stand near the checkpoint at the Shwe Zar village in Maungdaw township, Rakhine State, western Myanmar EPA Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures A group of Rohingya refugee children stand at a makeshift camp EPA Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugee Juhara, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, poses for a portrait at the Kutapalong refugee camp near Cox's Bazar in southern Bangladesh. Juhara passes her days carting water with difficulty to thirsty bricklayers working in a bustling corner of Cox's Bazar. She has just one hand - the other was cleaved off in a raid on her village after the August 25 clampdown started last year. Her husband and parents were killed. The 40-year-old said she ran for her life but was hunted down and savagely attacked AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees walk on a road along a makeshift camp in Kutubpalang EPA Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees are seen outside of their makeshift tent in the Kutupalong camp in Cox's Bazar Reuters Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Thousands of Rohingya refugees staged protests for "justice" on August 25 on the first anniversary of a Myanmar military crackdown that forced them to flee to camps in Bangladesh AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures A Rohingya refugee child looks through a window at a makeshift camp in Teknuf EPA Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugee women hold placards as they take part in a protest at the Kutupalong refugee camp Reuters Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures A young Rohingya boy waits in line for a food Getty Images Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees shout slogans during a protest march AFP/Getty Images Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugee girl with other children at a makeshift camp in Teknuf in Cox's Bazar EPA Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya women protest on the first anniversary of the Rohingya crisis Getty Images Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya women and children receive super cereal at Action Against Hunger Getty Images Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya girls share a laugh in Kutupalong, the largest refugee camp housing the Rohingya Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees gather near the fence in the "no man's land" zone between Myanmar and Bangladesh border AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees attend a ceremony organised to remember the first anniversary of a military crackdown that prompted a massive exodus of people from Myanmar to Bangladesh AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rashida Begum, a Rohingya refugee woman walks on the Kutupalong camp in Cox's Bazar Reuters Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures A Rohingya refugee bursts into tears as she shouts slogans during a protest march AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugee baby Nur Sadek two years old undergoing treatment at a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) hospital in Teknuf in Cox's Bazar EPA Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees protest Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees perform prayers AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rashida Begum, a Rohingya refugee woman bathes her son in the Kutupalong camp Reuters Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees protest Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees walk on a muddy road EPA Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya women and children wait in line for a food distribution of super cereal at Action Against Hunger Getty

“We don’t want to interfere with the government’s decision,” said chief justice Ranjan Gogoi in one of his first judgments since taking over the role on Tuesday.

An estimated 40,000 more Rohingya have taken refuge in parts of India, mostly in places with larger Muslim populations.

India’s government says it has evidence there are extremists who pose a threat to the country’s security among the Rohingya. The country is fighting insurgencies in northern Kashmir and in its northeastern states.

The government said in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday that the deportations were “an administrative decision involving diplomatic and other considerations including an overwhelming consideration of national interest”.

But rights groups criticised the ruling. Human Rights Watch said that “deporting these men will place them at severe risk of torture and abuse”. Amnesty International said their deportation “violates customary international law”.

And after the ruling Mr Bhushan, the defence lawyer, said the seven men “may be tortured and even may be killed” back in Myanmar. “It is a clear case of human rights violation,” he said.