Rohingya Muslims deported from India to Myanmar despite persecution fears
An estimated 700,000 Rohingya people have fled to Bangladesh to escape brutal violence by Myanmar’s military. Another 40,000 have taken refuge in India.
Earlier this month, India deported a group of Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar, the first such deportation since the government last year ordered the expulsion of members of the Myanmar minority group and others who entered the country illegally.
The deportation was carried out after the Supreme Court rejected a last-minute plea by the lawyer for seven men that they be allowed to remain in India because they feared reprisals in Myanmar. The men were arrested in 2012 for entering India illegally and have been held in prison since then.
Indian authorities handed the seven over to Myanmar officials at a border crossing in Moreh in the Indian state of Manipur, according to a police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters. Each carried a bag of belongings.
