New Delhi [India]: The Kerala government on Monday told the Supreme Court that no Rohingya refugees residing in the state have been found to have any association with the Islamic State or Caliphate (ISIS). Kerala government told the apex court that no cross-border threat perception existed in Kerala and the state government is taking concrete steps to detect the overstaying foreigners who used forged travel documents or surreptitiously entered into the country. “No cross-border threat perception existed in Kerala, but the state is having a vast range of coastal areas. Strict instructions have been given to field officers concerned to maintain a close watch on the influx of illegal immigrants through the sea route, by the effective co-operation of Coastal Police, Kadalora Jagratha Samithi and Coast Guard,” stated the document filed by the Kerala government. Saying that Rohingyas in Kerala have no association with ISIS, the state governments said, “So far, no instances of Rohingyans being associated with ISI/ ISIS is reported in the state.” The Kerala government filed the document on a plea of advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking directions to the Central and State governments to identify, detain and deport all illegal immigrants and infiltrators, including Bangladeshis and Rohingyas, within one year. The Kerala government has clarified that in the last five years, no case under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 was reported against illegal Bangladesh immigrants or Rohingyas in the state. It added that in the last five years, out of 70 Bangladesh nationals arrested, 57 were deported to Bangladesh and the remaining 13 are undergoing legal proceedings. A large number of migrants hailing from West Bengal, Assam, Bihar and Jharkhand are in Kerala, said the State, adding, that directions have been given to the officers concerned to curtail intrusion of illegal immigrants entering the State under the guise of being North Indian migrant labourers. Recently, the BJP government in Karnataka had filed a revised affidavit before the Supreme Court, retracting from its earlier statement that there is no immediate plan to deport Rohingyas, living in Bengaluru. In a fresh affidavit, the Home department later said the Karnataka State Police have not housed Rohingyas in any camp or detention centre within its jurisdiction. However, 126 Rohingyas have been identified in Karnataka state, it said. The Karnataka government had said that whatever the order would be passed by the top court will be scrupulously adhered to and followed in its letter and spirit. Upadhyay’s plea called for a direction to identify and invoke the National Security Act against government employees, police personnel and security forces, who have links with infiltration mafias and help Rohingyas-Bangladeshis to infiltrate into West Bengal.
