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India will not violate any international law by deporting Rohingyas: Rajnath Singh

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Sep 21, 2017, 12:07 PM IST
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India's home minister Rajnath Singh has said India will not be violating any international law by deporting Rohingya refugess from the country. Photograph:(WION)

India's home minister Rajnath Singh has said India will not be violating any international law by deporting Rohingya refugess from the country. 

Singh said that was because India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. 

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Singh added that the "Principle of non-refoulement applies on those who have taken asylum in India. No Rohingya has applied for asylum in India till today." 

"Non-refoulement" is defined as "a fundamental principle of international law which forbids a country receiving asylum seekers from returning them to a country in which they would be in likely danger of persecution based on 'race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion'."

He added that "People should understand that one aspect of illegal immigration of Rohingyas is related with the national security." 

There are some 40,000 Rohingya who are registered with the UNHCR as currently living in India. 

The government had recently told the Supreme Court that the Rohingyas are a national security risk. 

And that some Rohingyas living in India may have links with Pakistani terror groups.