{"id":43023,"date":"2025-05-09T19:24:52","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T13:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=43023"},"modified":"2025-05-09T19:25:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T13:55:09","slug":"sc-rules-rohingya-refugees-subject-to-foreigners-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/09-05-2025\/sc-rules-rohingya-refugees-subject-to-foreigners-act","title":{"rendered":"SC Rules Rohingya Refugees Subject to Foreigners Act"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Polity and Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Supreme Court observed that if <strong>Rohingya refugees<\/strong> are found to be <strong>\u2018foreigners\u2019 under the Foreigners Act,<\/strong> they will be dealt with as per the law.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Petitioners&#8217; Arguments:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Rohingya are recognized as <strong>refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),<\/strong> and thus <strong>deserve protection under the principle of non-refoulement <\/strong>(not returning refugees to a place where they face serious threats).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Deportation to Myanmar, where they are stateless and allegedly face torture and death, <strong>violates Article 21<\/strong> (Right to Life) and<strong> Article 14 <\/strong>(Right to Equality).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Government&#8217;s and Court&#8217;s Position:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India is <strong>not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention<\/strong>, and <strong>the Foreigners Act<\/strong> gives the government broad powers to regulate the entry and exit of foreigners.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Article 19(1)(e) <\/strong>(Right to reside\/settle) <strong>applies only to Indian citizens<\/strong>, not to foreigners, per the Supreme Court\u2019s interpretation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The SC acknowledged basic constitutional protections (like Articles 14 and 21) extend to all persons in India, but <strong>not a right to stay or settle in India.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The bench reiterated that the matter of whether the refugees can stay is <strong>subject to legal procedure under Indian law.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Who are the Rohingya refugees?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Rohingya are a<strong> Muslim minority ethnic group<\/strong> with their roots in the <strong>Arakan kingdom in Myanmar<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Rohingya are culturally and religiously distinct from the<strong> majority Buddhist population in Myanmar.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Rohingya claim to have lived in Myanmar\u2019s <strong>Rakhine State<\/strong> for generations, but successive governments in the country have disputed their ties, labelling them <strong>illegal immigrants from Bangladesh<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Myanmar has<strong> denied them citizenship since 1982,<\/strong> thus making them the <strong>world\u2019s largest stateless population<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Their <strong>largest exodus began in 2017<\/strong> driving more than 7.5 lakh people to seek refuge in Bangladesh to escape the brutality of security forces.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India\u2019s Policy on Refugees<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India has welcomed refugees in the past, with nearly <strong>300,000 people categorised as refugees.\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This includes the Tibetans, Chakmas from Bangladesh, and refugees from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, etc.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>But <strong>India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugee<\/strong>. Nor does India have a refugee policy or a refugee law.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>All foreign undocumented nationals<\/strong> are governed as per the provisions of The <strong>Foreigners Act, 1946, The Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939, The Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and The Citizenship Act, 1955.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As per the MHA foreign nationals who enter into the country <strong>without valid travel documents are treated as illegal immigrants.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reasons for India\u2019s Policy on Refugees<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Resource Strain:<\/strong> Hosting refugees puts pressure on resources, especially in areas where infrastructure is already stretched thin.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Social Cohesion:<\/strong> Large numbers of refugees can strain social cohesion, potentially leading to tensions with host communities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Security Concerns:<\/strong> Refugee influxes can raise security concerns, including the potential infiltration of extremist elements and difficulties in monitoring movements across porous borders.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Diplomatic Relations:<\/strong> Hosting refugees strain diplomatic relations with neighboring countries or countries of origin.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Economic Impact:<\/strong> Refugees compete for low-skilled jobs, affecting the local job market, while their potential contributions to the economy through entrepreneurship or labor may not be fully realized.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India&#8217;s approach to refugees is shaped by a <strong>tradition of humanitarianism, regional geopolitics, and national security concerns.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Though India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol, it has historically provided refuge to various displaced communities.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As global displacement continues to rise, there is an i<strong>ncreasing need for India to establish a clear and consistent national refugee policy<\/strong> that balances humanitarian obligations with security and demographic concerns.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/if-rohingya-refugees-are-foreigners-under-the-foreigners-act-they-will-be-dealt-with-as-per-the-law-sc\/article69554086.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Supreme Court observed that if Rohingya refugees are found to be \u2018foreigners\u2019 under the Foreigners Act, they will be dealt with as per the law.\u00a0<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Who are the Rohingya refugees?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Rohingya are a Muslim minority ethnic group with their roots in the Arakan kingdom in Myanmar.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Rohingya are culturally and religiously distinct from the majority Buddhist population in Myanmar.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Rohingya claim to have lived in Myanmar\u2019s Rakhine State for generations, but successive governments in the country have disputed their ties, labelling them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Myanmar has denied them citizenship since 1982, thus making them the world\u2019s largest stateless population.\u00a0<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/09-05-2025\/sc-rules-rohingya-refugees-subject-to-foreigners-act\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43023"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43048,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43023\/revisions\/43048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}