States directed: ‘Identify Rohingyas and repatriate them’

Srinagar, Jun 08: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said that the government of India has already directed several State governments to identify Rohingya Muslims settled in various parts and send them back to Myanmar.
Singh, who was in J&K for a two-day visit, said that the Centre has asked J&K and other states to confine Rohingya settlers to pre-identified locations within their respective jurisdictions for their likely repatriation.
Singh was referring to the Government of India directions passed recently as per which the states have been told to record Rohingyas’ personal particulars, including biometric details, and not to issue them Aadhaar number or any other identity proof.
The advisory seeking confinement and monitoring of Rohingyas follows up on a September 2017 advisory that had asked the states to detect Rohingyas and report them to the Centre for likely deportation.
The United Nations considers the Rohingya one of the world’s most persecuted minorities.
The Rohingya claim that they are indigenous to Rakhine, a place Myanmar, a country dominated by Buddhists.
Many are descended from settlers who came in the 19th and early 20th century. Despite their roots, a 1982 law stripped the Rohingya of their citizenship. They are now considered illegal immigrants in Myanmar as well as in neighboring Bangladesh and India, where thousands of them have fled.