7 Rohingya deported to Myanmar will be killed very soon: Rohingya refugees in Delhi

After the Indian government deported seven of them to Myanmar this week, Rohingya refugees in India say they do not wish to return "until peace is restored in their homeland". 

And they added that the seven Rohingya refugees who have been deported will very soon be killed. 

"I have been living here since 2012. I only request the government to let us live here. We have faced a lot of hardships in our country. We did not leave our country out of greed, no one really wants to leave their own nation," Mohammad Farooq told ANI. 

"Our records are there with the authorities and the UN. Police brought us a form to fill but it was in Burmese language and we refused to fill it. The seven people who have been deported won`t be alive for long. They will be killed," Mohammad added. 

Mohammad currently lives in Delhi's Kalindi Kunj. 

Haroon said the same thing to ANI. 

"We are living here since 2005. The government has provided us with no help apart from long-term visa. The government has stopped renewing it since 2017. It was previously renewed five times. We want to request the government that there is still no peace in our country. Houses are still being burnt there. No matter how long we live here, we will not get a citizenship until the government makes such provision," Haroon said.  

"Some people have filled a form that has come from Burma embassy. Whatever Indian government`s order comes we follow but we did not fill that form because it was all in the Burmese language. Filling it would mean that we are going to Burma with our free will. We do not want to go to Myanmar as of now," he added. 

The seven Rohingya refugees deported to Myanmar had been in custody in Assam since 2012. They were bussed to the Moreh border post in Myanmar and handed over to Myanmarese authorities on Thursday after the Supreme Court refused to intervene in the deportation. 

The court said it did not wish to interfere in the Central government's decision. 

The special rapporteur on racism at the India office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees however had said the move might amount to refoulment — or the deliberate return of refugees to a place where they face persecution and the threat of violence. 

Refoulment falls foul of international law. 

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees had added that the seven Rohingya should be allowed to make an "informed decision" about whether they wish to return, or claim asylum in India. 

Some 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar since August 2017 after a military campaign against them. The military campaign — which the UN has called ethnic cleansing — followed an attack on police and army posts by the militant Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army group. 

About 40,000 Rohingya currently live in India. 

(With inputs from ANI)