India plans to deport up to 10,000 Rohingyas from Jammu and Kashmir

India is planning to deport as many as 10,000 Rohingya Muslims who are illegally staying in the restive state of Jammu and Kashmir. Both the federal and state governments are involved in the discussions on how to handle the matter.

Proposed by the Jammu and Kashmir government, the issue was discussed by the Central government in a high-level meeting. According to estimates, anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000 Rohingya Muslims are living in the state after entering India illegally through either the Indo-Bangladesh border or the Indo-Myanmar border.

The latest move comes after Pakistan-based terror Lashkar-e-Taiba's renewed bid to exploit the Rohingyas for carrying out terror acts in India and Bangladesh, according to a New Indian Express report.

Their role in smuggling and drug trafficking in India's northeast region for raising funds for terror activities has also been highlighted by the countries intelligence services, the report added.

In total, about 40,000 Rohingya Muslims are believed to living across India and all of them are officially considered as illegal settlers only.

The UN human rights agency have formally recognised about 14,000 Rohingya Muslims living in India as refugees. However, New Delhi doesn't recognise them as asylum-seekers. They are labelled as foreigners living in India without necessary documents.

The ethnic Rohingyas, who have allegedly been persecuted in a systematic manner for the past few years, are often dubbed as a stateless minority and are branded illegal immigrants in the Buddhist-majority country, Myanmar.