NEW DELHI: The repatriation of seven Rohingya immigrants, staying illegally in Assam, was arranged after "reconfirming" of their willingness to return and with "full concurrence" of the Myanmarese government, the Ministry of External Affairs said Thursday.
The MEA statement came after the Supreme Court allowed the first ever deportation of seven illegally-migrated Rohingyas to Myanmar while rejecting a plea made by one of the Rohingyas seeking to restrain the Centre from deporting them.
Just after the court's order, the authorities concerned deported the seven illegal immigrants, who had entered India in 2012.
Responding to queries on the issue, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, "Upon reconfirming their willingness to be repatriated (on October 3, 2018), and with the full concurrence of the Government of Myanmar. The government of Assam has arranged for the repatriation of these seven individuals to Myanmar.
He said that Myanmar's Embassy here with the MEA's assistance was able to establish the identity of these individuals as residents of that country.
The Myanmarese government has also issued certificates of identity to facilitate the travel of these individuals to their home towns in the Rakhine State, Kumar said.
"The individuals also requested in 2016 that Myanmar's Embassy should issue them relevant travel documents to facilitate their return to their own country," Kumar added.
The seven individuals from Rakhine State of Myanmar had been detained in 2012 for violation of the Foreigners Act.
The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Cachar in Silchar, Assam, had given a three-month sentence for this violation and ordered their detention pending repatriation.
Allowing the deportation of the seven Rohingya Muslims, the Supreme Court said they were found by the competent court as illegal immigrants and have been accepted by their country of origin as citizens.
The Indian government had informed Parliament last year that over 14,000 Rohingya people, registered with the UN refugee agency UNHCR, stay in India.
However, aid agencies estimate that there are about 40,000 Rohingya people in the country.