Five Rohingya in detention in Assam to be repatriated

Five Myanmar nationals, who are in detention in Assam, will be repatriated via the India-Myanmar border in Moreh in Tengnoupal district of Manipur, officials confirmed.

Five Myanmar nationals, who are in detention in Assam, will be repatriated via the India-Myanmar border in Moreh in Tengnoupal district of Manipur, officials confirmed. Three others, including two minors from the same family believed to be Rohingya, will continue to be in detention at Tezpur Central Jail in Assam’s Sonitpur district.

Rohingya refugees are reflected in rain water along an embankment next to paddy fields after fleeing from Myanmar into Palang Khali, near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Image for representation.(Reauters file photo)

Another Myanmar national, Mohd Slam who was brought from Ambala in Haryana, was repatriated on Wednesday, Manipur police said.

A top police official in Sonitpur said that five people, believed to be Rohingya, are on their way to Manipur and are likely to be repatriated either on Thursday depending on Myanmar officials.

“They are on their way,” Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, Assam’s additional director general of police (border) said, confirming the possible repatriation of the five Myanmar nationals.

“The five belong to the family of Md Imam Hussain. Nationality verification of the two minors in the family was not done by Myanmar authorities so it has been decided that Hussain will stay back with the kids while other five will be repatriated tomorrow morning (Thursday),” said LS Changsan, prinicpal secretary, home , political, border and passport, government of Assam. “We have received their travel papers and the approval from the ministry of home affairs,” she said adding that the ministry of external affairs had taken up the matter.

“Five of them left from Tezpur yesterday,” Numal Mahatta, Sonitpur’s additional superintendent of police said, adding their travel documents had arrived.

S Ibomcha Singh, superintendent of police of Manipur’s Tengnoupal, said he received information from officials in Sonitpur about the repatriation and that the individuals are currently on their way in Silchar in Assam.“Mohd Slam who was brought from Ambala has been repatriated at around 4 pm. There was some problem in his documents but it was resolved,” Singh said.

According to records available with the Hindustan Times, there were as many as 15 individuals in detention in Tezpur who have been categorised as Myanmar nationals.

Seven of them, including Yasmin, Jasmin, Romana, Tehmina, Redownn, Tasmina and Mohammad Ali, belong to Caundong village under Bashidong police station, according to official records and have been in detention since November 17, 2014.

Eight others including Md Imam Hussain, his children Azida Begum, Md Ayash, Ratika Begum, Md Riaz Ali, Md Haresh, Hussain’s wife Taeba and Md Hussain have been in detention since March 25, 2014, records show. They belong to Damudar Gaon, Bathidang number 3, according to records.

Earlier, in October seven Rohingya in detention in Silchar were repatriated after Supreme Court refused to intervene.