Rohingya Deportation: New plea in SC seeks restraint on expulsion of Muslim minority to Myanmar

A fresh plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a restraint on the Government of India from deporting seven Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar, where the army is allegedly doing ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority.

Seven Rohingyas have been held in the Silchar Detention centre, Assam on charges of illegally entering India in 2012 and were scheduled to be sent back on October 3.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, said it would take a decision on urgent hearing in this issue after perusing the application.

The bench, also consisting of Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, was told by lawyer Prashant Bhushan that some Rohingya refugees were on the verge of being deported and the matter required urgent hearing.

"Plea filed in Supreme Court for urgent hearing seeking a restraint on the Government of India from deporting 7 Rohingya Muslims lodged in the Silchar Detention centre in Assam to Myanmar. Bench declined mentioning," the news agency ANI reported.

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Plea filed in Supreme Court for urgent hearing seeking a restraint on the Government of India from deporting 7 Rohingya Muslims lodged in the Silchar Detention centre in Assam to Myanmar. Bench declined mentioning. https://t.co/j9Te8XD9ZF

— ANI (@ANI) October 3, 2018

The scheduled deportations came on the heels of Indian government's 2017 order to return Rohingyas in a bid to wash out all the illegal migrants from the country.

As many as 700,000 ethnic Rohingya fled an offensive by Myanmar troops launched nearly a year ago in reprisal for attacks on border posts by Rohingya rebels who took up arms against the ill-treatment of the stateless minority.

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However, Myanmar's army has denied nearly all wrongdoing, insisting its campaign was justified to root out Rohingya insurgents.

While successive waves of Rohingyas have fled into Bangladesh, small numbers have found their way to India and Nepal while a small community has also been established in Pakistan.