I/II. [Certain rules of customary international law are so important that no government can violate them even if a treaty existed that would allow them to do so. The prohibitions on torture and slavery are such “peremptory norms”. As early as 1982, the executive committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which is comprised of 101 countries including India, affirmed that the principle of nonrefoulement was “progressively acquiring the character of a peremptory rule of international law”. The Indian government says it is worried about the entry of refugees with links to Rohingya militants. If that’s the case, they should produce evidence and prosecute individual suspects. While a Rohingya militant group attacked security posts in Burma, it is the campaign of ethnic cleansing by the Burmese military that has caused the Rohingya to flee, most to Bangladesh but some to India. When your neighbour flees his burning house, you are not at liberty to push him back into the flames because you consider him a trespasser. The Rohingya are literally fleeing their burning homes. The obligation not to push them back stems less from a signature on a piece of paper than from the fundamental principles of our shared humanity.]
https://scroll.in/article/851814/india-cant-deport-rohingyas-just-because-it-hasnt-signed-refugee-convention India can’t deport Rohingyas just because it hasn’t signed Refugee Convention When your neighbour flees his burning house, you are not at liberty to push him back into the flames because you consider him a trespasser. by Bill Frelick Published 3 hours ago India can’t deport Rohingyas just because it hasn’t signed Refugee Convention Dominique Faget/AFP India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in a tweet that his government is “not violating any international law” if it deports Rohingya refugees “as we are not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention”. Hold on. If India had not signed the Convention Against Torture, would Indian authorities have carte blanche to torture and ill-treat anyone in custody? Of course not. India knows full well that certain principles of international law are considered customary international law – they are unlawful because states have long prohibited the practice as a matter of law. It doesn’t matter whether or not the country has ratified a treaty on the subject. And, if it is wrong to torture or persecute someone, forcing someone to return to a place where they face these abuses is also unacceptable. By deporting them we are not violating any international law as we are not a signatory to 1951 Refugee Convention. — Rajnathsingh_in (@RajnathSingh_in) September 21, 2017 The home minister correctly cites the 1951 Refugee Convention as a source of law for the principle of “nonrefoulement”, which prohibits the return of refugees “in any manner whatsoever” to places where their lives or freedom would be threatened. He could also have cited the 1984 Convention Against Torture, which prohibits the return of anyone to another country where there are substantial risks of torture. There are also other regional conventions and declarations that endorse the principle, such as the 1969 OAU Refugee Convention, the 1969 American Convention on Human Rights, and the 1966 Bangkok Principles on Status and Treatment of Refugees. But that’s not the end of the story. Certain rules of customary international law are so important that no government can violate them even if a treaty existed that would allow them to do so. The prohibitions on torture and slavery are such “peremptory norms”. As early as 1982, the executive committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which is comprised of 101 countries including India, affirmed that the principle of nonrefoulement was “progressively acquiring the character of a peremptory rule of international law”. The Indian government says it is worried about the entry of refugees with links to Rohingya militants. If that’s the case, they should produce evidence and prosecute individual suspects. While a Rohingya militant group attacked security posts in Burma, it is the campaign of ethnic cleansing by the Burmese military that has caused the Rohingya to flee, most to Bangladesh but some to India. When your neighbour flees his burning house, you are not at liberty to push him back into the flames because you consider him a trespasser. The Rohingya are literally fleeing their burning homes. The obligation not to push them back stems less from a signature on a piece of paper than from the fundamental principles of our shared humanity. This article first appeared on The Human Rights Watch website. II. [The Human Rights Watch on Monday called for targeted sanctions and an arms embargo on the Myanmar military to stop further “crimes against humanity” in the country’s Rakhine state. The watchdog also accused the Army of forced deportation, murder, rape and persecution of Rohingya Muslims in the region and said this has led to “countless deaths and mass displacement”. HRW said its research was based on satellite imagery. The non-profit urged the United Nations Security Council to ask Myanmar to allow entry to a UN fact-finding mission to investigate the rights abuses. Myanmar should also allow aid agencies to reach the people in need, HRW said.] https://scroll.in/latest/852004/rohingya-crisis-human-rights-watch-asks-un-security-council-to-impose-sanctions-on-myanmar-army Rohingya crisis: Human Rights Watch asks UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Myanmar Army The organisation accused the country’s military of committing crimes against humanity. by Scroll Staff Published Yesterday · 05:25 pm Rohingya crisis: Human Rights Watch asks UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Myanmar Army Prakash Singh/AFP The Human Rights Watch on Monday called for targeted sanctions and an arms embargo on the Myanmar military to stop further “crimes against humanity” in the country’s Rakhine state. The watchdog also accused the Army of forced deportation, murder, rape and persecution of Rohingya Muslims in the region and said this has led to “countless deaths and mass displacement”. HRW said its research was based on satellite imagery. The non-profit urged the United Nations Security Council to ask Myanmar to allow entry to a UN fact-finding mission to investigate the rights abuses. Myanmar should also allow aid agencies to reach the people in need, HRW said. The organisation urged the Security Council to take steps to ensure justice, suggesting that they could also approach the International Criminal Court. Earlier on Monday, Myanmar told the UN General Assembly that there was no ethnic cleansing or genocide against Muslims in Rakhine state. It claimed that such accusations by other countries were irresponsible and unsubstantiated. Several nations had spoken about the plight of more than 4.2 lakh Rohingyas who had fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh since August 25, when attacks by insurgent groups led to a military crackdown and further violence. Earlier in September, the UN Human Rights Commissioner had criticised Myanmar’s apparent “systematic attack” on the Rohingya minority. “Because Myanmar has refused access to human rights investigators, the current situation cannot yet be fully assessed, but the situation seems a textbook example of ethnic cleansing,” Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein had told the UN Human Rights Council. The Rohingya crisis Lakhs of Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh in recent weeks, after violence broke out in Rakhine state. Rohingyas have been denied citizenship in Myanmar and are classified as illegal immigrants. The community has been subjected to violence by the Buddhist majority and the Army in Myanmar, though the country has repeatedly denied this claim. Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s de-facto leader, has been facing criticism from world leaders, and the crisis has threatened to jeopardise Myanmar’s US-aided shift toward democracy after five decades of military rule. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
