Govt has not filed any affidavit in SC regarding Rohingyas, says Rijiju

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs of India Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said that the Centre has not filed any affidavit in the Supreme Court in regard to the Rohingyas matter.

"We have not filed any affidavit yet on Rohingyas," Rijiju told the media

Earlier, it was reported that the Centre has filed an affidavit in the apex court, stating that 'Rohingyas are a threat to national security'.

New Delhi had earlier decided to send consignments of humanitarian assistance to Dhaka, in response to the humanitarian crisis being faced on account of the large influx of refugees into Bangladesh.

This development comes days after Bangladesh briefed India about the problems faced by it due to the influx of refugees from Myanmar following the ethnic violence in the Buddhist-majority nation.

As per reports, on August 9, the government had told the Parliament that according to available data, more than 14,000 Rohingyas, registered with the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR, are presently staying in India.

The UNHCR had said that at least 2,70,000 Rohingya refugees have fled from the violence-affected Myanmar's Northern Rakhine state and sought refuge in Bangladesh where the limited shelter capacity is already exhausted.

Earlier, the government had said that it cannot allow security situation of the country to suffer for the sake of allowing illegal immigrants on regional and religious considerations.

BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao had said that the Centre is fulfilling all its humanitarian obligations but it cannot overlook the manner in which a large number of illegal immigrants have been residing here and posing a challenge to the security of the country.