Can a refugee be deported, HC asks the government

Can a person with refugee status be deported back to his country, the Delhi High Court asked the government today.
The query was posed to the government by Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva while hearing a Yemeni national's plea for a student visa to pursue a PhD course from here.
The foreign national has been granted refugee status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), but the government has said he can get a student visa only if he surrenders that status.
The student, who arrived in India in 2013, said he cannot give up the refugee status and added that his admission could be affected if he was not granted a student visa.

The petitioner, in his plea filed through advocate Gunjan Singh, has contended that he is a Sunni Arab and his community has been targeted by Houthi rebels, the government there and other non-state actors such as al-Qaeda.
The court listed the matter for hearing on May 11 to await the government's response on whether a refugee can be deported.

Till the next date, the court extended its interim order protecting him from any coercive action.
The student, whose provisional visa expired today, had moved the court in January this year after he was detained by the authorities which wanted to deport him.

According to his plea, he had a valid visa till October 31, 2016, after which he was kept at the detention centre in Narela area of Northwest Delhi.
He has said in his plea that he has already completed a post-graduate course in Commerce from the Pune University.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) had earlier said that the student's provisional visa would be extended for three months to facilitate his stay for seeking admission in the Ph.D programme of Delhi University.
The MHA and FRRO had said that if he gets admission, he shall be granted regular visa extension. However, if he fails to get into the Ph.D programme, he would be asked to exit the country.