23 Rohingya awaiting deportation to Myanmar have illegally entered India 6 years back

New Delhi: A group of 32 Rohingya individuals had illegally entered Indian borders 6 years back and were arrested back then are now awaiting deportation to Myanmar.

These 32 members have entered India in 2012 and now 23 Rohingya individuals are awaiting deportation with their details already been forwarded to Myanmar through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and their response is awaited Home Ministry officials said, reports Indian Express.

Two Hindu Rohingya individuals were deported early this year while seven others were sent back early this month. All individuals were convicted for violation of Passport (Entry into India) Act and are reported to have finished their jail sentence.

Assam Additional Director General of Police (Border) Bhaskar J Mahanta said, “We keep sending people of different countries. This is a usual exercise.”

According to Foreigners Tribunals, more than 900 inmates are still doing jail time in six detention camps in Assam, of whom most have been “declared foreigners”.

Only a few of these inmates have accepted they are foreigners and have a valid address in their native country. These inmates are “convicted” of overstaying illegally, committing offences or violation of Passport (Entry into India) Act and are mostly from Bangladesh, the officials added.

Home Minister Rajnath has justified the action taken on Rohingya stating they can’t be called Refugees as they have not taken asylum in India nor applied for it.

According to released statistics from MHA, there are nearly 14,000 Rohingya presently registered with UNHCR and are staying in India.

While other Indian agencies estimate that there are around 40,000 Rohingya who are staying in India illegally, mostly in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, UP, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan.