Note: The story is updated after Maktoob confirmed that 40 people were forced into the sea near the Myanmar border. Initially, Maktoob reported 43, citing the petition filed in the Supreme Court.
Indian authorities have allegedly thrown 40 Rohingya refugees detained from New Delhi into international waters near the maritime border with Myanmar, forcing children, women, and the elderly to swim to safety with life jackets provided to them.
The inhumane operation reportedly happened on 08 May, the day Solicitor General assured the Supreme Court of India that any deportation would be carried out strictly in accordance with the procedure established by law.
In that hearing, responding to a batch of petitions challenging the crackdown and deportation of stateless Rohingya refugees in New Delhi, the Supreme Court said that if they are found to be foreigners under Indian law, they must be deported.
Rohingyas are considered stateless after Myanmar refused to take them back after they fled from their homeland due to genocide against them.
Two Rohingya refugees have confirmed to Maktoob that their family members, who were detained from New Delhi’s Uttam Nagar area, have reached Myanmar.
A petition prepared to be submitted to the Supreme Court of India stated that “children as young as 15, female minors as young as 16, senior citizens up to 66 years old, and people suffering from cancer and other ailments were among those abandoned into the sea without regard for their lives or safety”.
David Nazir, a Rohingya Christian representative, said that his parents were flown to Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands from New Delhi.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.