If Rohingyas are found to be foreigners, they have to be deported: SC

If Rohingya refugees in India are found to be foreigners under Indian laws they will have to be deported, the Supreme Court has said.

"If they (Rohingya refugees) are foreigners as per the Foreigners Act, then they have to be deported," a three-judge Bench led by Justice Surya Kant told senior advocate Colin Gonsalves and advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing Rohingya petitioners.

Referring to a top court order, the Bench – which also included Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice N Kotiswar Singh — on Thursday said the identity cards issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) may not be of any help to them under the law.

"It would be better that instead of passing interlocutory orders of any nature, we take up these matters and decide either way. If they have a right to stay here, that should be acknowledged, and if they don't have a right to stay here, then they will have to follow the procedure and deport as per the law,” Justice Kant said, posting the matter for hearing on July 31.

As the petitioners’ counsel submitted that some refugees having UNHCR cards, including women and children, were arrested by the police and deported, on the eve of the hearing, Justice Datta said, "If they are all foreigners and if they are covered by the Foreigners' Act, then they will have to be dealt with as per the Foreigners' Act."

Referring to the April 8, 2021, order of the top court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said it bound the government to take deportation action in accordance with law. In the 2021 order, the top court said the rights guaranteed under Articles 14 and 21 are available to all persons who may or may not be citizens but the right of not to be deported, was ancillary or concomitant to the right to reside or settle in any part of the territory of India guaranteed under Article 19.

Gonsalves termed Rohingyas’ arrest as "alarming" and "shocking", saying it amounted to overreaching the court's decisions.

However, referring to the UNHCR cards, Mehta said India was not a signatory to the refugee convention.

To Gonsalves’ apprehension of further deportations, Justice Kant said Mehta had assured the court that deportations would happen in line with Indian laws.