Illegal Influx From Myanmar Into India:
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh to check illegal influx from Myanmar into India.
- The instructions have also been given to Border Guarding Force (BGF), i.e. Assam rifles.
- India already has a lot of Rohingya migrated from Myanmar.
- India, treats all refugees entering the country as illegal immigrants.
- In 2020, it was estimated that 40,000 Rohingya refugees lived in India, scattered across different states.
- The State governments have no powers to grant “refugee status to any foreigner” and India is not a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention of 1951 and its 1967 Protocol.
- Similar Instructions were Issued in August 2017 and February 2018.
- The directive comes weeks after the military coup and subsequent crackdown in Myanmar which led to several persons crossing over into India.
- The Tatmadaw, or Myanmar military, had taken over the country after a coup in February 2021.The
- North Eastern States readily provide shelter to people from across the border as some of the states have cultural ties with some border areas of Myanmar and many people have family relations as well. This had resulted in some states taking a sympathetic view of those fleeing Myanmar and giving them shelter.
- Already there are clashes among the tribes (example Bru), more refugees will further aggravate the situation.
- More than a dozen foreign nationals including policemen and women from Myanmar have fled to neighbouring Mizoram.
