Guwahati, India — India on Thursday deported the first group of Myanmar refugees who had sought shelter after a 2021 military coup, a top state minister said, following weeks of efforts that were hampered by fighting between Myanmar’s rebel forces and the ruling junta.
Thousands of civilians and hundreds of troops from Myanmar have crossed the border to India after the coup.
This has worried New Delhi, which has announced plans to fence its border with Myanmar and end a visa-free movement policy.
“Without any discrimination, we have completed the first phase of deportation of illegal immigrants from Myanmar,” Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said in a social media post.
“The state government is continuing the identification of illegal immigrants.”Thousands of people have crossed from Myanmar into India since the 2021 coup, like these civilians seen in India's border state of Mizoram on November 20, 2021.
Persons:
Biren Singh, Rupak De Chowdhuri, Singh, Narendra Modi’s, Modi
Organizations:
“, Reuters, Indian, Refugee Convention, Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party
Locations:
Guwahati, India, Myanmar, New Delhi, Manipur, India's, Mizoram