Rohingya woman an ‘illegal immigrant’, Centre tells HC, court seeks her response

The petitioner, Senora Begum, 23, is a member of the Rohingya community from Myanmar and is lodged at Dayabasti Ren Basera Detention Centre in Shastri Nagar, maintained by the Ministry of Home Affairs, since June 2022.

A single-judge bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad asked the petitioner’s counsel to respond to the Centre’s stand, following which “the court can consider the application for early hearing”. The court listed the matter on the date already fixed: September 19.

The court noted that the Centre in its reply has stated that India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and therefore does not recognise the refugee status granted by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). “The stand by the Union of India is therefore that the petitioner is an illegal migrant who has to be deported back. The petitioner is directed to file a reply to the said counter (of the Union),” the HC said.

Stating that it is not disposing of the application, the bench said if the HC is unable to hear the matter on September 19, the petitioner can “press the application”.

During the hearing on May 23, advocate Warisha Farasat, appearing for Senora, relied upon a letter by the UNHCR dated April 25, 2022, which said the UN agency has recognised her as an asylum-seeker.

In her petition, Senora has said that she is a “stateless individual”, as the Myanmar government has refused to give any recognition/citizenship status to her. According to the petitioner, she fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh in 2017, and arrived in India sometime last year.

Senora has stated that she got married on June 17, 2022, to a man housed in the same detention centre. She has prayed that “detention beyond a period of six months is contrary to law” and that she should be released.

The Centre had previously submitted that Senora’s security verification was under way “through the Ministry of External Affairs”, and that’s why she had been kept under detention.