Supreme Court says ‘core issue’ is whether Rohingya are refugees or illegal immigrants

The Supreme Court on Monday (August 31, 2026) agreed to hear in detail the “core issue” of whether the Rohingya in India can be classified as refugees or are to be considered illegal immigrants.

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, heading a three-judge Bench, acknowledged a submission by senior advocate Ashwini Kumar that the court must pronounce an authoritative ruling on the central question of whether the Rohingya were refugees and a class by themselves under the domestic and international laws.

“Yes, that will be the core issue. Prima facie, it appears that as a refugee, someone would have a legal status,” Justice Kant remarked.

However, appearing for the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that India was not a signatory to the Refugee Convention.

He said the legal questions in the case were already prepared, and that the hearing must be restricted to them.

These include, he read out, whether “Rohingyas are not refugees and are illegal entrants, whether the action of the Union or the State to deport them is justified. Even if they are held to be illegal entrants, can they be detained indefinitely?”

Petition by the Rohingya

The hearing came in a series of petitions filed by Rohingya persons living in camps in the national capital and represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan and senior advocate Colin Gonsalves.

Mr. Bhushan had pointed out that petitions date back to 2013 and highlighted the prolonged detention suffered by persons, including Rohingya persons, after being declared foreigners in States like Assam.

In an earlier hearing in May, the Supreme Court had observed that if Rohingya persons were found to be “foreigners” under the Foreigners Act, they would be dealt with by the Centre in accordance with law.

The petitioners had also challenged the Centre’s power to deport Rohingya persons. They had argued that the Rohingya were identified as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and were protected against deportation to Myanmar. The petitioners had claimed non-refoulement, saying the Rohingya would be tortured and killed if they were deported to Myanmar, which has anyway declared them “stateless”.