UPDATE - India's top court holds Rohingya deportation plan

UPDATES WITH DHAKA DAILY REPORT SAYING INDIA DEPORTED 18 ROHINGYA MUSLIMS FRIDAY MORNING

By Ahmad Adil and Dildar Baykan

NEW DELHI, India (AA) - India’s top court on Friday held back the government from deporting Rohingya Muslim refugees from India till Nov. 21, when it will resume hearing the case again.

“We cannot be oblivious to the plight of children and women,” the Supreme Court said, adding that it has to strike a balance between human rights and national security.

“The Constitution is based on humanitarian values. The state has a multi-pronged role,” reported local broadcaster India Today.

In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court in mid-September, the government justified its plan to deport the refugees, saying it has serious consequences to the national security.

The government is said to be looking to deport the estimated 40,000 Rohingya refugees in India despite criticism against any such moves; already 39 Rohingya Muslims were said to be deported within the last three weeks.

The Bangladesh-based Dhaka Tribune daily said Friday Indian border security units deported another 18 Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh on Friday as well despite the earlier reported decision of India's top court.

In a statement by Nazrul Islam, a spokesman for the Bangladeshi prime minister, said children were among the 18 people deported this morning from Satkhira border.

Since Aug. 25, some 536,000 Rohingya have crossed from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine into Bangladesh, according to the UN. Some are seeking refuge in India, which shares a border with Myanmar.

The refugees are fleeing a military 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.