Twenty-six men from Myanmar, who were imprisoned in the eastern Indian state of Manipur, have been returned to Myanmar’s junta.
According to residents, they were handed over to the regime in Tamu Township, Sagaing Region, from the Moreh border in Manipur.
The 19 weavers, five vendors and two Rohingya from Rakhine State were detained in June 2022 in Manipur for illegal residency in India.
They were supposed to be jailed for six months and fined 5,000 rupees (US$58) but they were locked up for 2½ years, according to a family member.
Ma Moe, a relative, told The Irrawaddy: “I heard immigration officials from Tamu had picked them up at the border checkpoint and they haven’t come home. They are being held by the regime. We want them to come home. It has been a long separation.”
Family members had to give the regime the men’s citizenship registration numbers before Myanmar’s Embassy in India could coordinate with Manipur’s prison authorities for their release.
They now fear the men will be conscripted by the regime.
Another relative said: “They are all being held by the regime. We fear they will be drafted. People are being snatched in towns and conscripted into the military.”
Thirty-five female weavers, 10 children and 50 war refugees from Myanmar are still being held in Imphal Prison for violation of India’s Immigration Act.
The detained refugees have served their sentences but reportedly requested that the Imphal prison authorities not hand them to Myanmar’s regime. They have instead requested transfers to prisons in Mizoram State if they must be locked up.
On May 2 last year, the Manipur authorities handed 39 female weavers to the regime and 38 migrants were transferred back on June 11.
