India reaffirms humanitarian assistance to Rohingyas

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar on Friday said that India is focusing on providing humanitarian assistance to Bangladesh and extending support in handling the situation emerging out of Rohingya crisis.

Raveesh Kumar said that India had so far sent three sorties of relief material to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, and the two countries were in close touch to resolve the situation arising out of arrival of displaced persons there.

On reports of discovering mass graves of Hindus, he said "We condemn terrorism in all forms. We emphasise that there is no justification for any kind of terrorism which targets civilians in this conflict. "We hope authorities will be able to bring perpetrators of the crime to justice and that families of victims would be provided all possible assistance and normalcy would be restored," he added.

Earlier, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday claimed that it is a mistake to consider Rohingyas entering India as refugees as they did not follow due procedure.

"We need to understand that Rohingyas who have infiltrated India are not refugees," Singh said during an NHRC programme.

The Minister argued that there is a set procedure to follow in order to acquire refugee status, hence the Rohingyas currently in India are illegal immigrants. Thus, human rights argument does not apply, he told media.

"India won't be violating any international law by deporting Rohingyas from India, as it isn't a signatory to 1951 UN Refugee Convention," the home minister added. "Principle of non-refoulement applies on those who have taken asylum in India. No Rohingya has applied for asylum in India till today."

OneIndia News