TIMES NATION THE TIMES OF INDIA, NEW DELHI | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

FIRST YOU EAT MEAT, THEN MEAT EATS YOU, MAYAS BROTHER, NEPHEW MAKE RALLY
SAYS MANEKA IN VEGETARIANISM PITCH | 10 DEBUT; STAGE SET FOR NEW DYNASTY? | 13

Right To Settle Anywhere Not For Illegal Migrants: Govt

Radical Rohingya A Threat Reuters
MHA: We are
following due
BSF To Raise Influx With Bdesh guarding the 1,643-km border
Dhananjay.Mahapatra Neeraj.Chauhan
I would go for insaniyat, says ally Nitish with Myanmar, told TOI that
@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: The Narendra

process of law @timesgroup.com

Modi government told the Su-
preme Court on Monday that
the right to move and settle
anywhere in India was guar-
anteed by the Constitution to
Indian citizens, and the right
was not available to illegal mi-
grants like the Rohingya.
Illegal influx of Rohin-
gya, in significant numbers,
started into India (sic) since
2012-13, and the central gov-
ernment has contemporane-
ous inputs from security
agencies and other authentic
material indicating linkages
of some of the unauthorised
Rohingya immigrants with
Pakistan-based terror orga-
nisations and similar orga-
nisations operating in other
countries, the home minis-
try said in a 15-page affidavit.
The Centre said it had
found that many of the Roh-
ingya figure in suspected sin-
DEEPENING CRISIS: Rohingya refugees wait to be transported to
Coxs Bazar after their arrival in Bangladesh on Monday
All Rohingya not
terrorists: Mamata
B engal CM Mamata Banerjee
on Monday said all
Rohingya refugees couldnt be
branded terrorists. Let the
government take steps against
those who have terror links. But
the misdeeds of the few cant be
generalised. We need to
distinguish between terrorists
and commoners, she said,
adding Indias security could
the long-term fallout of per-
mitting a large number of ille-
gal migrants to stay in India.
India is a country with a large
population, surplus labour
force, and has its complex so-
cial/cultural/economical in-
frastructure. Providing facili-
ties/privileges to illegal immi-
grants out of existing national
resources... would deprive In-
dian citizens of their legiti-
mate share in the employment
sector, subsidised housing,
medical and educational facil-
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: Hours after filing
an affidavit in the SC on the
Rohingya, the home ministry
issued a statement saying the
government was well within
the law to deport them, citing
the Foreigners Act and the Con-
stitution. It also reiterated that
some Rohingya had links with
Pakistans spy agency ISI, oper-
atives of global terror outfit IS,
and members of extremist
groups targeting India.
A ministry spokesperson
said the Foreigners Act, 1946,
empowered the government to
take action against foreigners
staying illegally in India and
made it obligatory to act in the
matter. Process of identifica- India Foundation, Sharma
tion and deportation of such il-
legal foreigners in India is elab-
orately laid down in executive
instructions which strictly fol-
New Delhi: Border Security
Force (BSF) chief K K Sharma
is all set to raise the issue of
the Rohingya influx via Ban-
gladesh with the director gen-
eral of border guard Bangla-
desh (BGB) Abul Hossain, and
ask him to stop the illegal mi-
grants from entering India.
The two officers will meet
in New Delhi in the first week
of October as part of the bian-
nual DG-level talks. Indias
apprehensions about more
Rohingya attempting to cross
over to West Bengal or the
north-eastern states will be
conveyed at the meeting.
Speaking to TOI on the
sidelines of a seminar to dis-
cuss smart border manage-
ment, organised by FICCI and
rous nature and tough terrain.
said, Yes, we will touch upon
the Rohingya issue with BGB.
Lets see how they respond. Bangladesh, and the Indian
B ihar CM Nitish Kumar, chief of BJP ally JD(U), on Monday
avoided any direct comment on the Centres decision to
the Rohingya were not com-
ing through the Indo-Myan-
deport Rohingya Muslims when asked about it. JD(U) relies on mar border at all.
Muslim support in Bihar to some extent. To a question on the Speaking at the function,
subject, Nitish said, JD(U) is yet to discuss the matter. However, Chauhan asserted that it is
he hastened to add that personally he would go in favour of impossible to fence the Indo-
insaniyat (humanity). Meanwhile, Congress asked the Myanmar border, a centre of
government to take all political parties into confidence on the insurgency for several dec-
issue, arguing that its blanket approach would not help sort out ades. He said the people of the
the sensitive matter. AICC spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said the Northeast, who shared histo-
government must maintain a balance between internal security ry, traditions and culture
and international obligations while taking a call on the issue. TNN with people across the bor-
der, will not allow fencing of
It has been reported by in- government, forces and intel- the border. Because of this,
telligence agencies that most ligence agencies fear more there is a huge insurgency
of the 40,000 Rohingya in India
have crossed over since 2012-13
will try to infiltrate into India.
The BSF often arrests or
problem, he said. He
claimed there was a new phe-
through the 4,096-km Indo-
Bangladesh border. The bor-
der provides an easy route for
shoots people entering India
illegally after warning them,
but there are many jungles,
nomenon that involved
Myanmar-based insurgents,
operating from bases where
criminals, illegal migrants, riverine sections on the Indo- the army didnt come, infil-
fake-currency/arms/drugs/ Bangladesh border that are trating into India, attacking
cattle smugglers due to its po- difficult to man round the and exfiltrating. Chauhan
clock, officials say. also cited problems like no
Around 3 lakh Rohingya Director general of As- road infrastructure, zero
refugees are said to be living in sam Rifles Lt General Shokin presence of administration,
Chauhan, responsible for and thick jungles.

Parents killed, childhood butchered

ister designs of ISI/IS and
other extremist groups who
want to achieve their ulte-
rior motives in India, includ-
ing that of flaring up commu-
nal and sectarian violence in
sensitive areas.
It promised a bench of
Chief Justice Dipak Misra
and Justices A M Khanwil-
kar and D Y Chandrachud to
give intelligence inputs and
other related documents in
sealed cover on October 3,
when the court will hear pet-
itions opposing the Centres
move to deport the Rohingya.
(The) More disturbing
part is that there is an orga-
nised influx of illegal immi-
grants from Myanmar
through agents and touts facil-
itating (movement of) illegal
immigrant Rohingya into In-
dia via Benapole-Haridaspur
(West Bengal), Hilli (WB) and
Sonamora (Tripura). The sit-
uation is seriously harming
the national security, it said.
India is already saddled
with a very serious problem
of illegal migrants and is at-
not be compromised, but
branding the entire
community terrorist was
inhuman. Meanwhile, BJP has
suspended Benazir Arfan, a
campaigner against triple talaq,
for making social media posts
on atrocities against the
Rohingya in Myanmar without
the partys permission. TNN
tempting to address this sit-
uation in the larger interest
of the nation and keeping the
national resources of the
country, requirements of In-
dias own population, nation-
al security concerns and sev-
eral other facts in considera-
tion, it said.
The Centre added the
large influx was concomitant
to growth in stridency of Roh-
ingya militancy that could
further destabilise the fragile
northeastern corridor of In-
dia. Besides, radicalised Roh-
ingya had the potential to
pose a real threat of sparking
violence against Buddhists
who are Indian citizens.
The Centre also talked of
ities and would thereby culmi-
nate in hostility towards im-
migrants, resulting into (sic)
inevitable social tension and
law and order problems. The
fundamental rights of Indian
citizens would, therefore, be
seriously violated, it said.
For the Rohingya mi-
grants, the lawyers line-up
was impressive Fali S Nari-
man, Kapil Sibal, Rajeev Dha-
van, Ashwani Kumar, Colin
Gonsalves and Prashant
Bhushan, who was the first to
file a petition on behalf of two
Rohingya Muslims opposing
the Centres decision to de-
port illegal migrants. He had
cited the international non-
refoulement convention to
plead for a stay.
Referring to the Conven-
tion Relating to the Status of
Refugees, 1951, which states
that refugees not be returned,
and the Protocol Relating to
the Status of Refugees, 1967,
the Centre said, Since India
is not a party to (either)... the
obligations contained therein
are not applicable to India.
low established due process of
law, the spokesperson said.
The ministry said the gov-
ernment neither supported il-
legal migration to its territo-
ries, nor of Indian citizens to
foreign countries, as a mat-
ter of policy.
Asserting that the govern-
ments first duty was towards
its own citizens, the spokes-
person said curbing illegal
migration was a priority ar-
ea since it had major securi-
ty, economic and social ramifi-
cations, and impinged signifi-
cantly on the basic rights of
Indian citizens.
However, all illegal mi-
grants were dealt with under
the due process and rule
of law, he said. The MHA
added egulated migration was
facilitated through an elabo-
rate visa regime aimed at
securing the best interest of
all concerned.
The governments deci-
sion on declaration of individ-
ual as a foreigner is final ac-
cording to the existing law,
he added.
Coxs Bazar: They are lost,
unattended, and unaware of
the fate that awaits them.
Numbed by the brutalities
witnessed back home in My-
anmar, the only thing they fe-
el are the pangs of hunger
and thirst as they struggle to
survive another day.
According to the Unicef, of
the 200,000-odd Rohingya
children who have crossed
over from Rakhine to Bangla-
desh in recent weeks, at least
1,312 have been separated
from parents. Aid agencies
estimate the number of lost
children will shoot up as mo-
re refugees arrive at Coxs Ba-
zar. Most of these children
are vulnerable to trafficking
and exploitation, either com-
mercial or sexual.
I found a child sitting in
the jungle when I was run-
ning towards the border. The
forces from Myanmar had
killed his parents and a brot-
her. He somehow managed to
escape and got lost in the
jungle. I handed him over at
the camp office, recounted
Nur Alam, whose entire fami-
ly was killed.
The lost children Unicef vo-
lunteers rescued were all over-
come with thirst and hunger
and barely alive when they we-
re found. Aid workers are wor-
ried about the severe health is-
sues facing the children.
They need food, shelter clean
water, medicines and vaccines.
We have set up camps, said
Unicef spokesperson Chris-
tophe Boulierac.
Unicef has so far set up 41
centres for children where
they can play. These sites ma-
ke it easier for aid workers to
spot the children who have
been separated from their fa-
milies, or are lost.
Many of the children are
suffering from ill health and
undernourishment, the trau-
ma deepened by the blood and
gore they saw back home.
Scarred, they are in need of
psychological counselling.
We came across a boy
whose parents were killed in
front of his eyes. The boy ma-
naged to flee and reached the
Myanmar border. By the time
ROHINGYA
THE NOWHERE PEOPLE
Rohit Khanna
he reached Bangladesh, he
was numb and his tears had
dried. He did not feel anyt-
hing anymore. He said that he
needed food, water and shel-
ter. The trauma inside him
will take time to be healed,
recounted Boulierac.
Abu Henna, secretary of
Red Crescent at Coxs Bazar,
said their volunteers had also
come across children whose
family members had been
brutally slaughtered.
The volunteer of an inter-
national aid agency said girls
were particularly vulnerable
and needed to be protected.
A local who spotted a 13-
year-old girl in the camp pro-
posed to her. When she tur-
ned down the marriage, he
slapped her. Her cries alerted
others. Seeing them, the man
fled, he recounted.
In the unregulated camps,
the threat of commercial or
sexual exploitation remains.
You cannot rule out the
possibility of children get-
ting exploited in an environ-
ment like this, said Chris
Lom, senior regional media
and communications officer
of UN migration agency, In-
ternational Organisation for
Migration (IOM).