Advocate Fali S Nariman told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the Centre’s decision to deport all Rohingya refugees from India was absurd, as the Narendra Modi government in 2014 had reiterated an earlier notification outlining the rights of refugees while answering a question in the Lok Sabha, Live Law reported.
Nariman said the 2011 notification stated that refugees fleeing persecution are different from illegal immigrants and should be given long-term visas, employment opportunities and the right to study in educational institutions.
Nariman, appearing for the main petitioner Mohammad Salimullah, also read out the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, dated October 3, 2016, which India has signed. He said that though India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it has signed several other international conventions which prohibit involuntary deportation of refugees.
Nariman also said if the Centre had any specific information about any Rohingya persons being involved in terror activities, these individuals could be excluded from the applicability of the international conventions India has signed.
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, will on October 13 hear petitions challenging the Centre’s decision to identify and deport Rohingya refugees. The bench will also hear in detail the government’s stand that the refugees’ petition was not justifiable, or subject to trial, in a court of law.
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