CORRECTS - Indian minister calls Rohingya ‘illegal immigrants’

By Ahmad Adil

CHANDIGARH, India, (AA) - Rohingya Muslims settled in India are “illegal immigrants”, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said Thursday.

“They have entered India from Myanmar. We need to understand this reality that Rohingya are not refugees,” he said during an event in the capital New Delhi.

Singh said that no-one from the Rohingya community had applied for asylum, adding that the country would not be violating international law by deporting them.

The government is facing criticism over a plan to deport 40,000 Rohingya refugees and activists have demanded the withdrawal of the plan.

In an affidavit submitted on Sept. 18 to the Supreme Court, the government justified its deportation plan, claiming the Rohingya posed a national security threat through connections with terror groups.

“It is observed by the central government that some Rohingya are indulging in illegal/anti-national activities,” the affidavit said.

Singh added: “The issue of national security is involved with regard to illegal immigration which our country can’t undermine.”

A junior minister in the Indian home ministry earlier this month said government is looking for ways to deport Rohingya living in the country.

Zafarul Islam Khan, a New Delhi-based journalist and senior Muslim leader, condemned the government’s plan on humanitarian grounds.

“This is not a good decision,” he told Anadolu Agency. “This is a humanitarian issue and several countries are accepting the refugees while speaking against the atrocities.”

- Persecuted minority

Since Aug. 25, more than 421,000 Rohingya have crossed from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine into Bangladesh, according to the UN.

The refugees are fleeing a fresh security operation in which security forces and Buddhist mobs have killed men, women and children, looted homes and torched Rohingya villages.

According to Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali, around 3,000 Rohingya have been killed in the crackdown.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

However, security analysts have said the decision to deport Rohingya refugees from India is in the national interest.

“The humanitarian angle notwithstanding, India's stand on Rohingya refugees is to be seen from the point of view of the current global perception on migration, which is perceived as a security threat,” Samir Patil, director of the Centre for International Security at the Gateway House think tank, told Anadolu Agency.

“There are some genuine concerns on linkages of Rohingya extremists with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia... Therefore, Indian policy makers are doing best to secure India's interests.”

Last October, following attacks on border posts in Rakhine's Maungdaw district, security forces launched a five-month crackdown in which, according to Rohingya groups, around 400 people were killed.

The UN documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by security personnel. In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.