Several former judges, senior advocates and office-bearers of the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms on Friday deplored the recent observations made by a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant that Rohingya refugees are “intruders” and cannot be given a “red carpet welcome” in the country.

The bench, which included Justice Joymalya Bagchi, had made the oral observations on Tuesday while dealing with a habeas corpus petition filed by writer Rita Manchanda over the alleged custodial disappearance of five Rohingya refugees. The bench had wondered whether Rohingya refugees should be granted a “red carpet welcome” at a time when the country was grappling with poverty.

In an open letter to the CJI, the signatories said the observations by the Supreme Court “had the effect of dehumanising Rohingya refugees whose equal humanity and equal human rights are protected by the Constitution, our laws and by international law”.

“…We are deeply troubled by the remarks made in the recent hearing, particularly the reported statements questioning the legal status of the Rohingya as refugees, equating them with intruders illegally entering India, the references to persons who dig tunnels to enter illegally, the questioning whether such entrants are entitled to food, shelter and education, the invocation of domestic poverty as a reason to deny basic constitutionally guaranteed entitlements to refugees and the suggestion that they be spared third degree measures, in their treatment in India,” it said.

According to the letter, the United Nations had described the Rohingya as “the most persecuted minority in the world” and are an ethnic minority in Buddhist-majority Myanmar who have endured decades of violence and discrimination.

“...Such remarks (by the court) provide a reasonable basis for apprehension of prejudice on the part of the bench against the rights of the Rohingya refugees and for concern that they will adversely affect public trust and confidence in the judiciary when it comes to protecting the rights of the most vulnerable amongst us,” it said.