Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday restated the central government’s stand on the Rohingya issue. In bold words he made clear that the central government is committed to safe repatriation of the Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar. Kiren Rijiju’s statement, “The government has a clear stand on Rohingya issue. They are illegal and won’t be allowed to thrive in India,” explains the tough stance of government in the issue of Rohingya muslims who have entered in huge numbers inside Indian territory. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh too spoke on similar lines when he explained the directives issued to various state governments by the central government. Rajnath Singh said, “We’ve issued orders to all states that no Rohingya should possess Indian documents so that we can talk to the government of Myanmar and External Affair Minister Sushma Swaraj can speak with the foreign minister of Myanmar,” The central government had earlier issued a letter to all the state governments to create a database of all the Rohingya refugees residing in their states.
The letter from the central government was sent to states such as Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal and every other state which had welcomed Rohingyas to settle. The government had also issued strict directions to the state governments to take precautionary measures so that the illegal refugees do not get hold of Indian documents such as passport, Aadhar etc.
During the Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visit to India the issue of illegal refugees had been widely discussed. The central leadership at that time too had made it clear that India was not planning to keep these illegal refugees and was instead planning to begin their safe repatriation back to Myanmar. It was important for the PM Modi and his government to put forth a clear cut plan of action in this regard as there are many more Rohingya refugees stuck in Bangladesh. In order to stop more illegal refugees from coming inside India’s territory the Bangladesh government needed to know the course of action India is going to take.
Illegal refugees have been a big problem in a country like India which struggles to provide for its large population. Not only are these illegal refugees a problem for the country’s limited resource but they also affect the security and demographics of the area where they are allowed to settle. PM Modi led central government is the first one which is keen on taking clear and decisive action on this issue, the previous governments instead tried to settle them in order to make their vote banks. Commendable step by the PM Modi led central government indeed.
The Myanmar government has shown willingness to resettle the Rohingyas back in their country. Therefore, there is no way in which it is necessary for India to keep millions of these illegal refugees in its territory which does have small factions of extremist Rohingyas in their midst. PM Modi and his ministers deserve special praise for keeping the illegal refugees segregated from the Indian population and for continuously working on their repatriation process. By maintaining a database and by keeping a track of their exact numbers the repatriation process will be a cakewalk once the situation in Myanmar becomes stable.
