Amid Rohingya crisis, Assam BJP says NE region has ‘very bad’ experience with immigrants

Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the entire Northeast region had a "very bad" experience with immigrants.

Guwahati, Sep 23: While the Narendra Modi government is planning to deport the "illegal" Rohingya immigrants from the country, the international body, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), says that India is bound by law not to deport the refugees.

Amid all these controversies, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Assam said that the entire Northeast region has a "very bad" experience with immigrants.

The issue of illegal immigration from the neighbouring Bangladesh has always been a very controversial subject in Assam and other parts of the region. While the BJP is in favour of giving legal status to the Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh, the saffron party wants to deport the Muslims who came to Assam from the neighbouring country after 1972.

Talking about the issue of immigrants, Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told CNN-News18 that the experience of the Northeast region with the immigrants has been "very bad".

When asked about whether it was a good idea to give asylum to the Rohingyas, Sarma said, "Our experience in the Northeast with immigrants has been very bad. Over 30 per cent people are immigrants and as a result the indigenous people are fast losing their identity."

"We are fast losing our culture, we are losing our land. Our monasteries and temples have been encroached upon. We are in very serious trouble when it comes to immigrant. So, drawing from my experience in the Northeast, I don't think any more people should be given asylum or refugee status in India," the minister added.

Regarding the question of threat to national security by the Rohingyas as stated by the Centre in the Supreme Court recently, Sarma said that India has to believe in what the government said.

"We have to believe the government of India because it is privy to all information. When the government of India has on oath submitted before the Supreme Court that they (immigrants) pose a threat to national security, I think we should believe in that. And ultimately the issue will be decided by the honourable Supreme Court. I think we should wait for the final verdict," Sarma added.

The Centre's plan to deport the Rohingyas has come at a time when more than four-five lakh of Rohingyas have left Myanmar to Bangladesh to avoid violence and persecution at the hands of the military in their homeland in the last one month.

OneIndia News