Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that as many as 77 illegal immigrants, including 55 women and five children, from Myanmar, where a civil war-like scenario is unfolding, will be deported in the coming week.
Manipur Unrest: Seven Myanmar nationals, who had illegally entered into India, were deported back to their home country from restive Manipur on Friday, Chief Minister N Biren Singh informed, adding that as many as 77 illegal immigrants, including 55 women and five children, from the neighbouring country, where a civil war-like scenario is unfolding, will be deported in the coming week.
“First batch of Myanmar nationals who entered India illegally deported today,” CM Biren Singh wrote on X while sharing a video of the illegal immigrants being deported.
First batch of Myanmar nationals who entered India illegally deported today.
Although India is not signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it has given shelter & aid to those fleeing the crisis in Myanmar on humanitarian grounds with a systematic approach. pic.twitter.com/zgte8RfmGl
— N.Biren Singh (Modi Ka Parivar) (@NBirenSingh) March 8, 2024
“Although India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it has given shelter & aid to those fleeing the crisis in Myanmar on humanitarian grounds with a systematic approach,” Singh added.
According to a report by The Assam Tribune, the seven Myanmar nationals were flown from the international airport in Manipur capital Imphal to the border town of Moreh and will be handed over to Myanmar officials at Tummu, a Myanmarese town on their side of the international border.
The transportation cost of the deporting the illegals will be borne by the Manipur Transport Department, officials said.
FMR suspended, Indo-Myanmar border to be fenced
The move comes weeks after the Indo-Myanmar Free Movement Regime (FMR) was suspended which allowed tribal people living along the border to travel 16 km into each other’s countries without need of a valid visa.
It was also decided that the entire stretch of Manipur’s 1,643-km long border with Myanmar will be completely fenced in order to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants into Indian territory.
Notably, CM Biren Singh had been demanding the scrapping of the FMR and the fencing of the border with Myanmar as he claims that the ethnic strife which has torn apart the northeastern state is the result of a porous India-Myanmar border which facilitates the entry of illegal immigrants belonging to the Kuki-Zo community as well as smuggling of drugs and weapons.
Reports claim that thousands of Myanmar nationals, who are facing an imminent civil war back home, have illegally swarmed into ethnic-violence hit Manipur.
The situation in Myanmar erupted after a military coup dislodged the democratically-elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and launched a brutal crackdown against the populace to consolidate power.
The Manipur violence
At least 219 people have been killed in the ethnic strife in Manipur which erupted on May 3 last year after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur’s population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mainly in the hill districts.