'Current conditions in Rakhine State in Myanmar are not conducive for safe'

As India prepares to deport seven Rohingya “illegals” to Myanmar on Thursday, two United Nations bodies criticised the proposed move and urged the Indian government to refrain from doing anything that would endanger the lives of those it plans to deport.

“UN High Commissioner for Refugees has expressed its view that the current conditions in Rakhine State in Myanmar are not conducive for safe, dignified and sustainable return for Rohingya,” a UNHCR spokesperson told The Hindu, calling on India to reconsider its decision and “refrain from measures that could directly or indirectly lead to the return of a person to a country where his or her life or freedom would be in danger.”

In a separate statement issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Tendayi Achiume, the UN Special Rapporteur on racism, said: “The Indian Government has an international legal obligation to fully acknowledge the institutionalised discrimination, persecution, hate and gross human rights violations these people have faced in their country of origin and provide them the necessary protection.”

Planned deportation

India’s decision on Wednesday to press ahead with the planned deportation of seven Rohingyas, who had crossed over illegally into Assam in 2012, and the UN agencies’ critical comments came even as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was in India for a visit.

On Tuesday, in an interaction Mr. Guterres had warned that sending the Rohingyas back to an unsafe situation in Myanmar would violate UN principles on “refoulement” (forcible return of refugees or asylum seekers to a country where they are liable to be subjected to persecution).

Separately, Shirin Sharmeen Chaudhury, the Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad, or parliament, in Bangladesh — where almost a million Rohingyas have taken refuge after fleeing from a series of attacks by Myanmar security forces termed as “genocide” by the UN in 2017 — asked countries to exercise caution and ensure the safety of the men being deported before sending them to Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

“We want them [Rohingyas] to return home in the Rakhine province of Myanmar, but we would like them to go back to proper conditions so that they do not face the same violence that they faced earlier,” Ms. Chaudhury told a visiting group of journalists in Dhaka. “We have a bilateral dialogue with Myanmar to ensure that the Rohingya refugees can be safe once they return home,” she added.

The Ministry of External Affairs declined to comment on the statements made by the UN agencies and the Bangladeshi leader. However, a government official, who asked not to be identified, asserted that the seven Rohingyas being deported were “illegals” and not refugees, and added that it was ‘significant’ that India had succeeded in getting the Myanmar government to agree to taking them back.