A fresh writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court claiming that 43 Rohingya refugees were detained by the police and forcibly deported by the Indian government to Myanmar via Port Blair. The petition said the batch of refugees, including women, children and elderlies, were abandoned in the international waters, Live Law reports.
The Supreme Court bench of Justice Surya Kant, Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice N Kotiswar Singh is currently hearing cases relating to the deportation and living conditions of Rohingya refugees.
The court was informed on May 8, when the matter was listed, about the fact that a batch of refugees with United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) cards were arrested by the police on May 7 late night and deported, despite the matter being listed.
However, the court, without passing any interim directions, listed the matter for July 31.
Meanwhile, two Rohingya refugees in Delhi have filed a new PIL alleging that some of the refugees in their group were arrested by the Delhi police on the pretext of collecting biometric data. They were taken away and held in various police stations. Later, they were flown to Port Blair, where they were forcibly put on naval ships with their hands tied and blindfolded. Among them include women, children and elderly persons. The petition alleged that the refugees were abandoned in the international waters. The refugees were forced to swim to a nearby shoreline turned out to be Myanmar.
The petitioners claimed that children were separated from their mothers, and families were split while carrying out this forcible deportation, according to the Live Law.
The petitioners, among other things, sought a direction to the Union of India to here after not arrest or take into custody Rohingya with an UNHCR card, and to treat them with respect and dignity and to ensure that their human rights are not violated in any manner. They also sought Rs 50 lakh compensation to each of the Rohingya deportees and to restart issuing residency permits to UNHCR cardholders as per the Domestic Refugee policy.