Bengal panel to bat for Rohingyas in Apex Court
21 Sep 2017 6:01 PM GMT
KOLKATA: The West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court on Wednesday to quash the Centre's August 8 notification directing identification and deportation of all Rohingyas from India.
Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee, the counsel for WBCPCR, said many
Rohingyas had entered India as they had been tortured in Myanmar. In this situation, deporting Rohingya children and their mothers staying in shelter homes in Bengal would put them in grave danger.
WBCPCR's plea said the notification went against basic human rights and violated Article 21 as the Constitution provided scope for protection of foreigners. Banerjee added that the deportation order would violate the Juvenile Justice Act by putting the children at risk as it is under this act that WBCPCR is taking care of them.
Panel chairperson Ananya Chakraborti said there are 24 Rohingya children in shelter homes, half of them in the Liluah shelter.
"They had been produced in front of the child welfare committee (CWC) under the Juvenile Justice Act. They cannot be deported without CWC's consent as per law as they need care. Moreover, they have no homes in Myanmar, so where can they be sent?" she said.
The West Bengal government had earlier planned to hand over UN refugee cards to the 24 children, but the programme at the Liluah home was cancelled after the Centre sent the missive to deport the Rohingyas.
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