80 Myanmarese rounded up from Ccpur
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, June 28 2022:
Altogether 80 Myanmarese nationals were apprehended on Tuesday from Ngathal village, Churachandpur district by a team of Churachandpur district police.
The police team under the overall supervision of district's SP Shivanand Surve was led by additional SP (Ops) Th Deshorjit Singh and MPS Hasby Haokip and assisted by SDPO and Churachandpur police station OC and Women PS OC and other officers.
The Myanmarese nationals were rounded up on Tuesday during a cordon and search op eration carried out from 5 am till 8:30 am based on reliable information regarding their presence in Churachandpur district.
A house-to-house search was conducted at Vaal Veng wherein 40 persons were apprehended from two rented quarters.
From another rented house at Vaal Veng, New Lamka, 13 males, 16 females and eight children suspected to be nationals of Myanmar were also apprehended.
The owner of the rented place namely Biakchunga (58), when enquired about his origin, revealed that he settled in Mizoram after migrating from Myanmar in year 1986 and came to Kwanpui, Churachandpur in 2013.Further, three other male Myanmarese nationals who used to sell goods around New Bazar area were later arrested from Gouchinkhup Veng, New Lamka.
A total of 25 males, 35 females and 20 children (total 80) were apprehended during the entire operation.
All the apprehended persons could not produce any valid document for staying in India and disclosed that they were all citizens of Myanmar.
A regular FIR has also been registered under relevant provisions of Foreigners Act for further investigation.
All adult members would be produced before the court of CJM for further remand for proper investigation and children before the JJ Board.
Senior officers led by ADG (LO) Clay Khongsai accompanied by IG Zone 2 Jayenta and DIG R 3 Angam, carried out inspection of the places from where the said persons were apprehended and advised all the officers to follow due procedures in the case and investigate thoroughly.
Consequent to the arrest of the Myanmarese nationals, including women and children, Citizens Committee, Manipur (CCM) has appealed to the state government to treat them humanely.
In a statement issued by the CCM convenor Babloo Loitongbam about a hundred suspected Myanmarese citizens taking shelter in Churachandpur district were arrested on Tuesday morning.
However, the CCM has alleged that the Myanmar nationals were initially kept at the police station and not given any food till noon, causing much hardship, especially to the children.
Till late on Tuesday, they were not produced before any magistrate either.
They are reportedly taken to Imphal, it said.
The CCM said it shares the anxiety of the families and friends of those arrested as their whereabouts, safety and security are not known.
"We appeal to the state government that the suspected Myanmar nationals be treated humanely, transparently and by respecting their rights guaranteed by law at every stage of the arrest and detention", said CCM.
It further stated that considering the civil unrest and tumultuous situation inside Myanmar following the military coup, our brethren and sisters who have fled their home and hearths seeking shelter in our land should be treated as refugees and asylum seekers as per international human rights standards and not as illegal immigrants.
The government should respect the well-established principle of non-refoulment and desist from any attempt to forcibly repatriate them, it said.
As done by the government of Mizoram, the CCM further suggested, the government of Manipur should also consider "adopting a smarter and more humane response to the refuge crisis".
According to the CCM, the first step could be to issue identity cards for the Myanmar nationals living in the state and setting up designated camps with basic facilities where they can spend sometime before the situation back home comes to some level of normalcy.
After all, it was how the government of Manipur dealt with similar situation in the past during the 1988 crisis in the neighbouring country, it said and reiterated its appeal to the state government that the suspected Myanmarese nationals be treated humanely, transparently and by respecting their rights guaranteed by law at every stage of the arrest and detention.
Manipur shares not only a long border but also a long history with Myanmar.
Hence our response to their crisis needs to be nuanced, it added.
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