“THE ROHINGYA IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NATIONAL SECURITY” By- Law Padho

 This article is written by Ashutosh Nath and Prakirti Jena, students at Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad, where they discuss about the“THE ROHINGYA IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NATIONAL SECURITY”. 

“THE ROHINGYA IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NATIONAL SECURITY”

-INTRODUCTION-

“No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark.”

BY- Warsan Shire[1]

In this contemporary world, we can see many of the social and legal issues which can be founded on its boiling point. Most of the time these issues are related to border conflict and disturbances based on ethnicity. In this present study, we are going to deal with one of those prominent issues. This is all about the “Rohingya Refugee crisis” in India. Refugees leave their own country of origin due to war or natural disasters. The religious conflict between the Myanmar Buddhist and Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar resulted in religious violence and forced the Muslim communities to leave Myanmar. After leaving their own country they are trying to settle in different parts of the world. India has not left to become an asylum country for the Rohingyas. From a report published by the ministry of Home And External Affairs, it has been founded that more than 40,000 Rohingyas are living in different places of India like Jammu & Kashmir, Hyderabad, and Delhi.[2]

The presence of Rohingyas in India mainly creates two issues. One of them is the disturbance of the internal security in India. Similarly, the other question which arises is whether the deportation of the Rohingyas will create serious human rights violation of these community. India is hanging in such a situation where a proper balance sheet should be drawn between these two issues otherwise, it will create serious injustice either for the Rohingya communities or for the citizen of India. Some of the recent decisions by the ministry of Home and External Affairs, show that the Indian government is not in the favour of the Rohingyas people in providing citizenship. In the year 2017, it came to news that some of the terrorist activity has been committed by these communities in India. After such an incident this became one of the prominent crises in India which are prevailing up to the present time.

But here the question arises how far the decision taken by the Indian government will follow the norms of international law and domestic law in a long run. In this paper, we are going to discuss this issue where we will try to find out a solution between the threat of internal securities for India and the human rights of Rohingya communities. [3]

LITERATURE REVIEW-

·         “Examining India's Stance on the Rohingya Crisis”[4] is one of the best articles in this segment, which has been written by K. YHOME.

ARGUMENTS- In this paper, the author tries to take a stand for India, in the issue of the Rohingya crisis. The main argument given by the author can be taken as a recommendation to solve this problem where both the human right and the national interest has been taken into consideration.

·         “The Rohingya Refugee Crisis: Implications for Regional Security”[5] has been written by Md Nurul Momem.

ARGUMENTS In this paper, the author tries to find a solution for the national security, which has been created by Rohingyas in India.

·         “Rohingya Settlers in J&K: A threat to national security” [6]is one of the articles which has been written by Yoginder Kandhari.

ARGUMENTS- In this paper, the author mainly focuses on the incident which has been taken place in J&K by the Rohingya community and its effect on India’s national security.

·         “Rohingya: A threat To Jammu”[7] is one of the best articles in this segment which has been written by Sandhya Jain.  

ARGUMENTS-In this paper, the author mainly focuses on Jammu, where some of the terrorist activity was taken place by the Rohingyas.

·         “Intended Illegal Infiltration or Compelled Migration: Debates on Settlements of Rohingya Muslims in India”[8]  has been written by Sangit Kumar Ragi.

ARGUMENTS- In this paper, the author tries to give both positive and negative approaches to the Rohingya's settlement in India.

·         “Examining India's Stance on the Rohingya Crisis”[9] has been written by K. YHOME. This is one of the best papers in this segment.

ARGUMENTS- Whether the settlement of Rohingyas in India will have a negative impact on the internal security, has been mentioned in this paper.

Research Gap-

The analysis of the above-mentioned work reveals some lacuna, which is known as the research gap. The below-mentioned points have been pointed out from the above-mentioned resources-

1)      The social and economic development of the refugees in the next future after taking the sustainable development into consideration.

2)      Drawing a balance sheet between the Human right of Rohingyas and the National security of India.

MAIN BODY-(ANALYSIS)

WHO ARE ROHINGYAS-

Rohingyas are considered as the world's most prosecuted people, whose number is more than 1.1 million. These people belong to Muslim communities that live in the Rakhine states of Myanmar. In Myanmar, they are considered to be the minority as well as an illegal immigrant. The government of Myanmar considers these people as stateless. So, no citizenship has been granted to this ethnic community. As per the report of the Myanmar government, these communities attacked the Army of Myanmar and several army officials died on such attack. As a result, a counter-attack has been issued by the Myanmar Army on the Rohingya communities.[10] This is the reason why the Rohingyas were forced to leave their countries and started living in different parts of the neighboring countries as refugees. Now, these people were considered stateless and living in the asylum countries in a difficult situation as most of the asylum countries are not agreeing to provide citizenship to these people. Due to weak security in the northeast border reason of India, they can enter our country easily by providing false documents. It is very easy for them to enter India as our border security is very weak on the northeast side.[11] 

THE PROBLEM SO FAR-

This community started entering India in the year 2016. In the year of  2017, an incident has taken place where it has been founded that the Rohingyas are involved in some of the illegal activities in India which promotes terrorism. In this same year, the Home Ministry sent a group to find out the illegal Rohingyas and Bangladeshis who are living in Jammu and Samba district. Up to that time, the threat of terror was not an issue. In February an attack was taken place by these Rohingya communities on the Army camp. As per the inquiry, it has been founded that these people have a link with some of the terrorist organizations in Pakistan. The terrorist group of Pakistan is influencing these people to settle in some Muslim minorities place to strengthen Muslim communities.[12]

After enforcement of Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 is very much clear that India is not going to adopt this community anymore. Here the issue subsists between the basic human right of Rohingya communities and the internal security of India. Many global organizations like the United Nations (UN) responded to the Rohingya crisis in India as a violation of Human rights.

PRESENT STATUS OF ROHINGYAS IN INDIA-

In a current report published by the Ministry of Home and External Affairs, the present number of Rohingyas communities in India is around forty thousand. These communities are living in different parts of India mostly Iin Muslims majority areas Like Hyderabad, J&K, and Delhi. In India, their social and economic status is very low as many of them are not able to get an employment in India. The citizenship amendment Bill 2019 comes to mind when we talk about the Rohingyas crisis in India. As per the CAA, India will provide citizenship to all the (Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, and Christian (NO MUSLIMS), who entered India as illegal immigrant from Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. This step by the Indian government clearly shows there is no place for Rohingyas, who are displaced from Bangladesh.[13]

WHY DO WE SEE ROHINGYAS LIVING IN J&K AS A THREAT?

From the abovementioned data, it is quite clear that the Rohingyas community are living in different states of India. Their density in the Muslim majority state is little more comparing to other states. The presence of this community in a sensitive state like J&K raises so many concerns. The CM of J&K admitted the fact that more than 13000, Rohingyas out of 40,000 Rohingyas have taken shelter in their state. Mainly they focus on the Muslim majority areas in the state of Jammu like Samba district where many of the lands belong to Muslim People. From an inquiry, it has been founded that the Jaish-e-Mohammed’s chief Masood Ajar is providing funding to some of the Rohingyas Muslims to conduct terrorist activity in India. Many of the terrorist activity has already been conducted by the Muslim terrorist group for this reason. So, the probability is quite high that in the future also some terrorist activity may take place by this community as the Indian government has already lost its hope on the terrorist groups.[14]

As J& K is considered to be a border state, so it is quite easy to create terrorism in such a sensitive area, with the help of Rohingyas communities. From a report, it has also been founded that some of the NGOs and some Muslim groups have put credible input to help the people of this community to be settled in this reason. The motive behind this charitable works by the Muslims union is to dilute the non-Muslim population in a certain part of Jammu and Delhi and to strengthen Muslim communities in these sensitive areas. From data is has also been found that in a school, which is run by an NGO in the state of J&K, most of the children belongs to Rohingya communities.[15]

As we all know they are illegal refugees, but the doubt on this community became on pick where it has come to the public through a news channel, where some people of this community revealing themselves that they made some the government documents like the Aadhar card, voter Id card fraudulently and illegally. We have to take this issue seriously because some of the people have fake J&K permanent resident certificates. This false document seems valid where as per the facts all these are fraudulent. These activities by the Rohingyas community create serious security concerns in India.[16]  

THE DEMAND OF ROHINGYAS-

The demands of the Rohingyas are a little complex, as this crisis is surrounded by so many dimensions such as legal, economic, humanitarian, political, territorial, ethical, and cultural. But the main demand which this community gives more importance is citizenship in a country where they are living illegally. In the Indian context also, they need citizenship to sustain themselves. Many of the news challenges have taken the opinion of some of the people of these communities where they clearly expressed that if the government wants to put them into jail due to the illegal entry, then they will accept it, but on the other hand they are not ready to leave this country at any cost. The argument which has been given by this community is: there is a serious threat to their life if they will be deported to their country of origin. So, they wanted to stay in India where they feel more comfortable and safer. Once they will have citizenship in India it will better for them to become part of many schemes and live a prosperous life in India.[17]

FEAR OF TERRORISM-

Many of the times it has been founded that the Rohingyas are involved in certain terrorist activity throughout India. The attempt made by the IS and AQIS to involved the Rohingyas community in the terrorist activity create headache for India. The national investigation Agencies (NIA) has found the linkage of the Rohingyas with the terrorist group like Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen and Jaish-e -Mohammad. In Indian context also many of the terrorist activity has been taken place by the Rohingyas Muslims in a different part of India.[18]

VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS-

When we discuss the Rohingyas crisis in the Indian context, then the violation of human rights comes into the picture. People, those who support that the Rohingyas should be given citizenship, also assumes that the deportation of these communities from India should be a violation of human rights. Some people also argue that the Indian government is violating the human rights of these communities by not proving basic needs such as House, food, and employment, which is their basic need in the Indian context.[19]

ROHINGYAS AND THE INDIA’S FOREIGN POLICY

A)  GLOBAL FRAMEWORK-

Rohingyas And Human Rights- As we all know that the refugee law is considered to be one of the parts of human rights laws. As the refugees come under the preview of the international human rights law, the united nations came up with a new convention for the refugees in the year 1951. The main feature of this protocol is the principle of non-refoulment. As per this principle, no contracting state can deport or expel any refugees from their country, no matter what the problem they are facing due to the refugees in their own country.[20] In such an instance no country cannot force any of the refugees to leave the asylum country whenever there is a threat to their life and livelihood. The main objective of this plan is to prohibit the idea of the expulsion of the refugees who are in search of the place for they living.[21]

Arguments- when this question arises in the Indian context, a strong counter-argument also comes to the picture. Here the core arguments against this non-refoulment principle are India is not a party to both the protocol and 1951 conventions. On the other hand, people also argued that the international customary laws bind the non-contracts states as well as contract states.[22] 

Other Arguments-

1)      As per the advisory opinion of UNHCR,2007 this principle binds all the states. Here the question of all the states means the state who was not a party to the 1951 and 1967 protocol.

2)      As per article 51 of the Indian constitution, India should follow the norms of international law and protocol to strengthen its international security and peace.

3)      In a similar manner article 14 of the “Universal Declarations of Human Rights” provides the rights to all the migrants to live in a different country as their basic human right.[23]

B)   INDIA'S STANCE-

Indian Constitution- In the chapter of fundamental rights some of the rights are not only available for Indian citizens but also to foreigners. Among all the Fundamental rights, "right to life' and the "right to equality" are such rights which are available to the foreigner also. So, as per the Indian constitution, none of the refugees should be deprived of their right to life and personal liberty, while they are sustaining under the jurisdiction of the central government. Similarly, the central government must ensure the right of equality for every person.[24] 

It’s very important to understand India’s stand in this context. Many of the time it has been founded that India has a lot of pressure on an international level to solve the Rohingya issue. Here the question on which all the dispute has been raised is drawing a balance sheet between the Internal security and the human rights of the Rohingyas. Many of the Indian politicians came to conflict for providing negative comments about Rohingyas. The Union Home Minister Shri Raj Nath Singh said "Rohingyas are a severe security threat for India". similarly, Indian politician Kiran Rijiju said "the Rohingya communities must be deported from India because they are involved in serious terror activity in different parts of India". [25]

From the above-mentioned statements by the Indian politician, it is quite clear that India is not in the support of Rohingyas. It has been mentioned in the citizenship amendment Act 2019, that citizenship will be provided to all the Hindu, Christian, Jain, Parsi, Sikh, and Buddhist, who were illegally immigrating from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. It clearly shows a negative sigh towards the Muslims. In the Rohingya community, a maximum number of people belong to Muslim communities. Many of the arguments have been made against the decision of the Indian government as it violates Article 14 of the Indian constitution which shows equality before the law and equal protection of the law. However, it is quite clear that India wants to give the first priority to its national security and then the human rights of Rohingyas.[26]

FINDINGS-

The main objectives of this research are to find out the results of the research questions. This research was based on mainly two hypotheses. The concluding statement of the hypothesis has been mentioned hereinafter.

·         The settlements of the Rohingyas Muslims in a sensitive state like J&K will be problematic as it has been founded that some of the Rohingyas have liked with many of the terrorist gang in other countries.

·         Deportation of the Rohingyas from India will not be violative of any of the Human Rights and International law as India never a party to any of the convention and protocol.

·         Alternative steps can be taken by the Indian government to save the human rights of the Rohingyas.

CONCLUSION-

To conclude we can say, the Rohingya crisis is considered to one of the prominent issues in the present context. As a host country, Bangladesh tries to short out this problem up to a certain extent. However, it is not able to provide all the facilities to these people. On the Other hand, from the behaviour of the Indian government, it seems this time it is not going to adopt the traditional method in solving the refugee issue for the Rohingyas as there is a threat of internal security for India. The argument which emerged in this issue is human rights which are contradicting to internal security. Some of the people also argue the country’s national interest should prevail over any other interest. In this study, we are not restricting ourselves in analysing the conflict but also, we will try to find out one of the solutions for the Rohingya issue which can run for the longer term. The main problem is hanging between human rights and internal security. It is quite clear that it may have a bad effect on our foreign policy, as our focus is a little more on more our national security. But this is quite clear that India is right in its decision by giving more priority to its internal security over the human rights of the Rohingyas. Up to the present time, a country like Pakistan has not stopped exporting terrorism to India. In such situations, a country like India should be given more priority to its national security and the works for the safety of its citizen. On the other hand, it can also be said a country like India believes in “BASUDHAIBA KUTUMBAKAM” AND “BHARAT JANANI EK HRIDAYA HO”. There are so many other paths by which the human rights of the Rohingyas can be protected. In this instance, the internal security of a country should be given more priority over any other concept.

RECOMMENDATIONS-

From the abovementioned analysis, it is very much clear that the Rohingyas communities are facing a lot of problems as they are struggling for basic livelihood. At the same time, India should be given more priority to its internal security. So, a balanced approach should be followed in such a way that can solve the issue by which we can get a positive outcome out of it. some of the suggestions have been mentioned hereinafter.

1.      India should be given more priority to its internal security over human rights.

2.      India should go for financial support for the Rohingyas by which we can be part of developing their livelihood.

3.      India has built 250 houses in Myanmar to assist Rohingyas. So more financial aid should be given to the Rohingyas for development in Rakhine state.

4.      International organizations should come forward to solve the Rohingya crisis in such a manner, where every country which are involved in this issue will be benefited.

Author- 1) Ashutosh Nath,

              2) Prakirti Jena,

Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad.

END NOTE

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[1] Given By- Warsan Shire In one of her poems. (Available At- http://www.januarytwenty.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Home-Poem-by-Warsan-Shire.pdf)

[2] Sandhya Jain, “Rohingyas: A threat to J& K” The Pioneer, 15^th may, 2018 Available At- https://www.dailypioneer.com/2018/columnists/rohingya-refugees--a-threat-to-jammu.html

[3] Md Nurul Momem “The Rohingya Refugee Crisis: Implications for Regional Security” APESS, volume-30. (2021) Available At- https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-030-62316-6_21

[4] K. YHOME, “Examining India's Stance on the Rohingya Crisis” ORF Issue Brief, Issue Number-02, (2016) Available At-file:///F:/6th%20semester/PROJECT/Indian%20Foreign%20Policy/Project/ORF_IssueBrief_247_Rohingya_FinalForUpload.pdf

[5] Md Nurul Momem “The Rohingya Refugee Crisis: Implications for Regional Security” APESS, volume-30. (2021) Available At- https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-030-62316-6_21

[6] Yoginder Kandhari.” “Rohingya Settlers in J&K: A threat to national security” Indian Defence Review- (2018) Available At- http://www.indiandefencereview.com/news/rohingya-settlers-in-jk-a-threat-to-national-security/2/

[7] Supra Note-02

[8] Sangit Kumar Ragi, “Intended Illegal Infiltration or Compelled Migration: Debates on Settlements of Rohingya Muslims in India” Department of Political Science, Social Science Building, North Campus, University of Delhi, (2019)

[9] K. YHOME, “Examining India's Stance on the Rohingya Crisis” ORF ISSUE BRIEF No. 247 l JULY (2018) Available At- https://www.orfonline.org/research/examining-indias-stance-on-the-rohingya-crisis/

[10] Ibid

[11] McSweeney, Bill, 1999: Security, Identity and Interests: A Sociology of International Relations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)

[12]Edwards, Alice, 2009: “Human Security and the Rights of Refugees: Transcending Territorial and Disciplinary Borders”, in: Michigan Journal of International Law, 30,3; at- https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjil/vol30/iss3/8/

[13] Sattar, Zaidi, 2019: “Rohingya Crisis and the Host Community”, in: The Financial Express, 30 July; at: https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/views/rohingya-crisis-and-the-host-community-156 4498784.

[14] Yoginder Kandhari.” “Rohingya Settlers in J&K: A threat to national security” Indian Defence Review- (2018) Available At- http://www.indiandefencereview.com/news/rohingya-settlers-in-jk-a-threat-to-national-security/2/

[15] Ibid

[16] Supra Note-14

[17] ZARNI MANN, “Rohingyas demand Full Refugee Status In India”, Relief World, Published on May 01, 2012. Available at- https://reliefweb.int/report/india/rohingyas-india-demand-full-refugee-status

[18] “Visit of UN High Commissioner for Refugees to India”, Press Releases, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India (December 19, 2012),  https://mea.gov.in/index.htm

[19] Ibid

[20] Supra Note-14

[21] “India commits $25 million to develop Myanmar’s Rakhine state”, The Hindustan Times (December 21, 2017), https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-commits-25-million-to-developmyanmar-s-rakhine-state/story-lpwndpPujIn1hCwBhJoqAJ.html

[22] Ibid

[23] Supra Note-16

[24] Kasturi, C.“Parallel moves by Modi govt on Rohingyas”. The Telegraph India. (2017)  Available at https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/parallelmoves-by-modi-govt-on-rohingyas/cid/1521784

[25] Samanwaya Rautray,“Rohingyas are national security threat: Government in Supreme Court” The Economics Times Published on- Sep 19, 2017 Available At- https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/rohingyas-are-national-security-threat-government-in-supreme-court/articleshow/60737138.cms

[26] Ibid