The Union government today said that illegal immigration of Rohingyas to India has serious national security ramifications and threats.

Inputs from security agencies have indicated that some Rohingya Muslim refugees in India have links with terror groups based in Pakistan, the Centre said on Monday.

In its affidavit filed at the Supreme Court, the government claimed that the continued illegal immigration of Rohingyas to India has “serious national security ramifications and threats”.

“Some Rohingyas are indulging in illegal/anti-national activities, such as mobilisation of funds through hundi/hawala channels, procuring fake Indian identities for other Rohingyas and also indulging in human trafficking,” the affidavit read.

On August 14, the government had announced that it was planning to deport all the estimated 40,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees living in India. Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju had said they were illegal immigrants, even those registered with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. The UN has criticised the decision, which was made even as the Rohingya crisis worsened in Myanmar.

The document was submitted in response to a plea filed by two Rohingya immigrants, who claim that they faced persecution in Myanmar. Their petition says that the Centre’s plan to deport them violated international convention.

The Supreme Court has scheduled the hearing in the matter for October 3.

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