India slammed for ‘irresponsible’ move to deport refugees back to chaos-ravaged Myanmar

Myanmar has been engulfed in violent chaos since its military coup in 2021, which has left thousands dead and seen entire villages razed – including in the border state of Chin – by an army notorious for its brutality.

Recent territorial gains by ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy rebels have damaged the junta’s hold on the country, and for the first time since the coup, raised the prospect of a defeat for a military which has held power for most of the last 50 years.

As it clings on, the military is fighting back with air strikes – including in the border area with India – and has activated a conscription law to boost its thinning ranks, driving thousands of mainly young people to seek sanctuary outside the country.

Since the coup thousands of civilians, as well as hundreds of defecting Myanmar troops, have fled into the Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram, through the open frontier where many share ethnic and familial connections with India-based villages.

But Manipur is experiencing a period of unprecedented violence between ethnic groups, leading politicians to blame the outside influence of those fleeing Myanmar.

Chief Minister of India’s northeastern Manipur state, N Biren Singh, on Friday wrote in a post on X that the “first batch of Myanmar nationals who entered India illegally” were being repatriated via helicopter to a border town in Myanmar and handed over to junta authorities.

Nearly 6,750 Myanmar nationals had been detected and detained as of February in Manipur, Singh has said.

At least 77 refugees were deported between March 8 and March 11, according to a report by Reuters.

Human rights defenders urged India to rethink its policy change.

“It’s really disappointing that we’re now seeing this refoulement of