The Manipur High Court May 3, 2021 allowed seven Myanmar nationals, who entered India secretly following the February 2021 military coup, to travel to New Delhi to seek protection from the United Nations High Commissioner (UNHCR).
- Though India is not a party to the UN Refugee Conventions, the court observed that the country is a party to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966.
- The court further said that the far-reaching and myriad protection afforded by Article 21 of our Constitution, as interpreted and adumbrated by our Supreme Court time and again, would indubitably encompass the right of non-refoulement.
Right of non-refoulement
- Under international human rights law, the principle of non–refoulement guarantees that no one should be re- turned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm.
(Source: The Hindu)
