Centre's next move will be to deport Rohingyas after implementing CAA: MoS Jitendra Singh

Singh said that the Citizen Amendment Act has become applicable across the country, including the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, since the day it was passed by the Parliament.

JAMMU: Even as nationwide protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019 and the proposed all-India National Register of Citizens (NRC) continue, Union Minister of State (MoS) in the PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh has said that the Centre’s next step would be the deportation of Rohingyas from the country.

''The CAA is applicable across the country including in J&K. By implication what will happen here is that the next move will be in relation to the Rohingyas. Unko jana hi hoga, details being worked out. This act doesn't give them leverage,'' MoS Singh said on Friday. Jitendra Singh made these remarks while speaking at a function in Jammu.

The BJP leader also stressed that the Citizen Amendment Act has become applicable across the country, including the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, since the day it was passed by the Parliament.

Pointing out that Jammu had a sizeable population of Rohingyas, Singh said that a list would be prepared and their biometrics would also be collected.

According to the government figures, more than 13,700 foreigners, including Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshi nationals, are settled in Jammu and Samba districts, where their population has increased by over 6,000 between 2008 and 2016. They started to arrive in India’s Northeast following stepped-up persecution by the Myanmarese armed forces in late 2011.

The Home Ministry claims that there are roughly 14,000 Rohingya refugees in India who are registered with the UNHCR, and there are estimated to be nearly 40,000 Rohingya living in India illegally.

Earlier this year, the Home Ministry had informed Rajya Sabha that India had deported 22 Myanmar nationals, including Rohingya, since 2017.

In 2017, the Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar fled the country after massive violence broke out in the country’s Rakhine state. An estimated 6.7 lakh crossed over to neighbouring Bangladesh, adding to the roughly 2.13 lakh Rohingya who had left Myanmar in previous years.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and other social organisations have been demanding the repatriation of the Rohingyas from the country.