SOURCE: AFI
A judge at the Bombay High Court recently made a controversial remark while hearing a plea by Khaled Gomaeai Mohammad Hasan, who is challenging a “Leave India Notice” issued to him by police in Maharashtra. Hasan, a Yemeni national, pleaded for protection from forcible deportation, arguing that returning to Yemen would pose a severe threat to his and his family’s lives, as reported by Indian legal website Live Law.
Yemen has been embroiled in a brutal civil war since 2014, when Houthi rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s north, forcing the government into exile. Hasan arrived in India on a student visa in March 2014, followed by his wife in 2015. After their visas expired, the couple obtained refugee cards from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). Despite this, they received a police notice in February this year, ordering them to leave India.
Hasan has been applying to move to Australia and sought permission from the high court to stay in India until his Australian visa is processed. He argued that his deportation would violate international customary laws and the Indian constitution, which uphold basic human rights.
However, Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan suggested an alternative that has sparked debate. They told Hasan to seek refuge in Pakistan, a Muslim-majority neighbor with whom India shares strained relations. “You can go to Pakistan, which is in the neighbourhood. Or you can go to any Gulf country. Do not take undue advantage of India’s liberal attitude,” the judges stated, according to Live Law. This suggestion was particularly striking given that Hasan has no known connections to Pakistan.