Advisory issued to Govts
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, July 25: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today made intentions of the Central Government clear on deportation of illegally settled Rohingyas and Bangladeshi nationals in Jammu and Kashmir and other States of the country saying the Centre was awaiting data from the State Governments before taking up the issue with Myanmar and, if required, Bangladesh Government.
Responding to questions in the Rajya Sabha today, Rajnath said the Central Government has issued an advisory to all State Governments to identify all Rohingya nationals, prepare their total numbers and ensure that they don’t manage to get any document to claim citizenship in India.
“When we get report from the States, we will submit it to the External Affairs Ministry and then Foreign Minister (Sushma Swaraj) will take up the issue with Burma (Myanmar) Government and, if required, speak to Bangladesh so that the illegally settled (Rohingyas and Bangladeshi) nationals could be deported to their countries.
Rajnath said the Ministry of Home Affairs has already issued an Advisory to all State Governments on illegal settlement of Rohingyas and Bangladeshi nationals with the directions to prepare their data bank comprising their total numbers and places of settlement etc.
“We are awaiting reports from the State Governments before the External Affairs Ministry takes up further action for their deportation,” Rajnath said.
Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said Rohingyas have illegally settled themselves in various States and areas including Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Haryana, Jaipur, Western Uttar Pradesh etc,
“The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued directions for identification and detection of Rohingyas before starting process of their deportation,” Rijiju said.
He added that the Government has powers to identify the illegal settlers and push them back (to their countries).
Rijiju said the Government of India has earlier also approached the Governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh impressing upon them to take back their nationals.
Congress leader Anand Sharma said the issue of Rohingyas has become “regional and global issue”. He pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj had also taken up the issue with Bangladesh Premier and Foreign Minister respectively.
“I would like to know whether it is true that the Government of India is engaged to resolve the crisis with Bangladesh and Myanmar Governments and the United Nations”?, Sharma said.
Another Rajya Sabha member Swapan Das Gupta said 40 organizations were working in close coordination to facilitate illegal arrival of Rohingyas in the country.
Meanwhile, reliable sources told the Excelsior that the Centre has drafted a detailed roadmap for deporting Rohingyas to Myanmar and an exercise to prepare “data bank” of their number, places of settlement etc were first major step of the exercise.
Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Rajasthan, New Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh Assam and couple of other North Eastern States where the Rohingyas and Bangladeshi have settled after their infiltration into India have been asked by the MHA to gather each and every detail about foreign nationals within their States and submit data bank to the Union Home Ministry at the earliest.
Apart from these States, other State Governments have also been asked to keep vigil on settlement of Rohingyas and inform the MHA in case of their fresh arrival from the neighbouring country. These directives were part of an advisory drafted by the Centre Government on settlement of Rohingyas in India.
There are more than 30,000 Rohingyas living in Jammu and Samba districts of Jammu region. The numbers, however, continue to fluctuate as some Rohingyas leave for other States in search of manual work while some more reach here from other places. However, the NDA Government has already directed the States, which share border with Myanmar, to strictly guard against any fresh infiltration of Rohingyas from Myanmar. Security forces deployed on Indo-Myanmar border have also been asked to maintain strict surveillance over any infiltration bid.
Sources indicated that by initiating series of tough measures, the Central Government has dropped enough hints of its serious efforts to deport Myanmar nationals back to their country as it had reports about involvement of some of them in “undesirable activities” that could pose threat to country’s security.
It may be mentioned here that various political parties and organizations in Jammu including ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been up in arms against illegal settlement of Rohingyas in Jammu as they felt that the Myanmar nationals could change demographic character of the region. The organizations have been holding regular protest demonstrations seeking their deportation to Myanmar.
Follow our WhatsApp channel