Narinjara News


India North eastern state plans to deport Burmese settlers

Dhaka, 6^th August 2003: India’s northeastern state of Mizoram said it was launching a drive to detect and deport thousands of illegal refugees from Burma in response to pressure from local residents, according to today the daily star quoting to AFP. 

“ We have formed a special Border Management Cell to carry out a village to village survey to find out if there are illegal Burmese nationals,” Mizoram Home Minister R. Tlanghmingthanga told AFP by telephone from capital Aizwal.

“ We guess there could be at least 30,000 Burmese nationals allegedly staying in Mizoram. Anybody found staying illegally would either be deported or their applications for asylum might be taken up.”

The decision to detect illegal settlers from Burma follows a massive anti-foreigners uprising by local pressure groups.

“ At least 3,000 Burmese nationals have fled the state in the past fortnight after some locals groups served them with notices,” he said. #