Centre asks states to count number of Rohingya refugees; Cites reports of illegal activities
New Delhi, Aug 1 (IBNS) : The Union Home Ministry has sent an advisory to State Governments to collect biometric data of Rohingya migrants living in India, and told the Lok Sabha that the Centre had received reports of their involvement in illegal activities, The Hindu reported.
The Government also made it clear that Rohingyas are “illegal migrants” and not “refugees.”
Replying a question in the lower House on Rohingya migrants, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the advisory for enumeration has been sent while the Border Security Force (BSF) and Assam Rifles have also been "sensitised over not allowing in more illegal immigrants."
Responding to a question on deporting the migrants, the Government was waiting for the enumeration process to be complete before sending it to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for taking up the matter with the Myanmar Government.
Answering supplementary questions on the issue, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said there had been reports of Rohingya being involved in illegal activities.
Rijiju, however, did not share the nature of these activities.
He informed the House that the 40,000 or so Rohingya in India were mostly found in Jammu and Kashmir, Hyderabad (Telangana), Mewat in Haryana and Tripura.
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