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Rohingya immigrants being handed over to Myanmar authorities by Assam Police after completing deportation formalities, at Moreh border post in Manipur, on Thursday.[/caption]
Our Correspondent
Imphal, Oct. 4 (EMN): Seven Rohingya immigrants, who had entered Assam illegally and were arrested and have been at a detention camp in southern city of Silchar since 2012, were deported to Myanmar via Manipur’s border town Moreh on Thursday.
Sub Divisional Police Officer Mohurle Sandip Gopaldas of Moreh police station who is also the immigration officer along with Indian team handed the immigrants to Myanmar counterpart, the police officer informed.
Assistant Commandant Sudashu Kumar, posted with the paramilitary force in Assam, brought the immigrants to Moreh in Manipur and handed them over to Aung Myo, deputy director of Immigration in Myanmar, after formalities were completed.
Officer In-Charge L Vaiphei of Moreh Police station and officer in charge of Immigration office (India) Md Tajuddin were also present at the handing and taking over.
Earlier, assistant commandant along with dozen personnel of the 6th battalion of Assam Police escorted the immigrants from Silchar to Moreh via Jiribam district headquarters, 220km west of Imphal on Wednesday. The team reached Imphal late in the night and proceed to Moreh on Thursday morning, the police officials said.
“After their arrival here (Moreh) at around 10 in the morning, they were handed over to Myanmar officials,” said the Manipur police officer
“We simply assisted it (deportation process) as the higher ups of the two countries have already reached an understanding earlier,” he added.
“Upon reconfirming their willingness to be repatriated (on October 3, 2018), and with the full concurrence of the Government of Myanmar, in accordance with established procedures and laws, the Government of Assam has arranged for the repatriation of these seven individuals to Myanmar,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.
Kumar said the seven individuals from Rakhine State in Myanmar had been detained in 2012 for violation of the Foreigners Act and that the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Cachar at Silchar, Assam, had awarded a three-month sentence for this offence and ordered their detention pending repatriation.
In accordance with established procedures and with the assistance of the Ministry of External Affairs, the Myanmar Embassy was able to establish the identity of these individuals as residents of that country, said Kumar. The Myanmar government then issued “certificates of identity” to facilitate the travel of these individuals to their hometown in Rakhine State.
In parallel, the MEA Spokesperson said, the individuals also requested in 2016 that the Myanmar Embassy should issue them relevant travel documents to facilitate their return to their own country.
The deportation process was started after Myanmar diplomats confirmed to Indian authorities that the immigrants were residents of the Rakhine State, where Myanmarese forces had affected a crackdown on the Rohingya community forcing lakh of them to flee to Bangladesh.
The seven immigrants -- identified as Md Jamal, Mohbul Khan, Jamal Hussain, Md Yonus, Sabir Ahmed, Rahim Uddin and Md Salam -- were apprehended on July 29, 2012. They are aged between 25 and 35 years, a Home Ministry official said.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea for a stay on the deportation of the seven illegal immigrants.
Following Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s directive, Northeastern states sharing international borders with different countries had tightened security to ensure that displaced Rohingya Muslims do not enter India.
Police sources said that several Rohingya immigrants were arrested at Moreh as well as Jiribam district bordering Assam, including Rohingya girls suspected to be victims of human trafficking.
The Rohingya people are a minority Muslim community from the Rakhine state in Myanmar.
