In his first big order since becoming the 46th Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, on Thursday refused to stop the deportation of seven Rohingya refugees, who were handed over to authorities in Myanmar.
Thousands of Rohingya refugees had fled their country after the military and Buddhist terrorists launched sustained attack against them by killings hundreds of them in Rakhine state. The United Nations has already termed it an ethnic cleansing.
But CJI Gogoi refused to intervene in the matter and bluntly told lawyer Prashant Bhushan that he ‘need not remind’ him the court’s responsibility. This was after CJI Gogoi asked, “First of all, they have been recognised as Myanmar citizens. What do you have to say?” To which, according to a report by NDTV, Bhushan replied that it was wrong adding that they had’t been recognised. Bhushan said that it was the responsibility of the court.
To which the CJI remarked, “You need not remind us what’s our responsibility,” before dismissing the petition.
Bhushan termed the order ‘unfortunate’ and said that their return would make them ‘liable to torture and murder.’
He tweeted, “It’s unfortunate that SC has allowed the Govt to deport 7 Rohingya refugees to Myanmar despite all UN & International human rights organizations saying that Myanmar has committed genocide against Rohingyas & that their being sent back would make them liable to torture & murder.”
These Rohingyas were in a jail in Assam since 2012, when they illegally entered India. According to an estimate, there are currently 40,000 Rohingya refugees in India after they escaped the state-sponsored persecution in their own country.
The UN has already termed the Indian government’s decision to deport back seven Rohingyas to Myanmar violation of international laws. UN Special Rapporteur on racism, Tendayi Achiume, said in a statement, “The Indian Government has an international legal obligation to fully acknowledge the institutionalised discrimination, persecution, hate and gross human rights violations these people have faced in their country of origin and provide them the necessary protection.”
The moves comes just two days after the Canadian senate unanimously revoked the honourary citizenship of disgraced Nobel Laureate and Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has faced global condemnation for her role in carrying out the ethnic cleansing.