Numerous academics, scholars, and activists who have backed the Government of India (GoI) have contended that India is not responsible for accepting and protecting refugees because it is not a party to the 1967 Protocol and the 1951 International Refugees Convention. Consequently, despite taking in the most significant number of refugees in South Asia, India lacks any national frameworks or regulations on refugees. India thus handles refugees from various countries in various ways.
Since the military staged the coup in Myanmar in 2021, the Mizo people and the Mizoram government have received thousands of Myanmar refugees, mainly from Chin State, despite the central government order of the state’s government not to accept the refugees and deport those who have already entered its territory. The number of refugees in Mizoram is never constant; new refugees arrive, and old refugees go back throughout the years. That makes it difficult for the Mizoram government and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to maintain the refugees’ data. Despite various organizations releasing different data on the refugees in Mizoram, the author estimated the number of refugees who arrived after 2021 in Mizoram to be between 50,000 and 60,000. According to the reports of ICJ, the Manipur government has received about 6,000 Myanmar refugees since 2021.
The Manipur government and the BJP government have responded to the Myanmar refugees by deporting them back, while Mizoram has welcomed them and provided humanitarian aid with their best. Moreover, the Manipur government has used the term “illegal immigrants” instead of the term “refugees or asylum seekers” from Myanmar. According to the United Nations, “Refugees are people forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as a result of who they are, what they believe in or say, or because of armed conflict, violence or serious public disorder.” Myanmar displaced populations in Manipur State fall under this definition. However, the Manipur government has used the term” illegal immigrants” instead of refugees. According to Chief Minister N Biren Singh, “the biometrics of 5,173 of them had been collected. Their deportation process was underway”. In responding to this, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has asked India to “immediately halt the forced” return of Myanmar refugees from Manipur and “respect” the nonrefoulement principle. Starting from June 16, 2024, we also saw that Myanmar refugees in jail in Manipur began their hunger strike against the Manipur government in the request to allow Myanmar refugees to take refuge in the state until the country becomes stable. Shockingly, the
The interesting thing is why two adjacent Indian states (Manipur and Mizoram) respond to Myanmar refugees with such different policies. One reason is India’s lack of National Policy on refugees. Secondly, some people argued that the Mizo government had accepted Myanmar on the grounds of ethnic connection and religious similarity beyond the grounds of human rights, which also can change along with the social condition change. One leader of the Mizo Young Association (YMA) said, “We accept them because they are our brothers.” Most refugees in Mizoram are Chin people, considered their brothers, who have the same history and culture. However, Manipur’s political situation is different, and the state government cited that Myanmar refugees have been involved in the Manipur conflicts without showing any solid evidence.
The Manipur Government has been deporting over 100 refugees back and 38 refugees recently on June 12, 2024, following the order of the Government of India (GoI), citing that Myanmar refugees are stoking the ongoing conflicts in Manipur without substantial evidence of their involvement amid Myanmar’s newly enacted conscription laws and the rise of the armed conflicts in Sagaing and Chin State, which share border to Manipur State. This is entirely unacceptable. If a refugee or a group of refugees were found to be involved in such cases with evidence or breaking any state laws, that person or group should be punished according to the rules. However, the entire population of the refugees should not be targeted and scapegoated. Deportation of the refugees while their country is in the midst of high armed conflicts, security, and safety risks should not be the solution; there are many other alternative ways or approaches to solving the refugee issues apart from repatriation. We can never know the future political situation of Manipur state; as the saying goes, “Nations rise and fall.” Manipur state or India can experience political turmoil or armed conflicts in the near future. In that case, Chin State or Sagaing region should also accept the refugees from Manipur. Good relationships should be maintained between neighboring states from both countries.
Even though India is not a party to the refugee convention, it has signed many international treaties on fundamental human rights regardless of citizenship (WorldLII). Therefore, deporting the refugees back forcibly is against International Laws, Basic human rights, and its constitution, and thus, the Manipur Government or India should halt the process of deporting Myanmar refugees and review their policies on this immediately.
((Peter, Master Degree in Public Policy, Kautilya School of Public Policy, peterjune@gmail.com, +918731065896)