Chin refugees

30-Jan-2023: Chin-Kuki-Mizo communities have sought help from India to end the "policy of extermination"

The Chin-Kuki-Mizo communities have sought help from India to end the "policy of extermination" of Ethnic Minorities in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh. More than 300 people belonging to the Chin-Kuki-Mizo group have taken shelter in Mizoram's Lawngtlai district since November 2022, following an alleged offensive by the Bangladesh army.

Demands of Chin-Kuki-Mizo Group

The Kuki-Chin tribes of the CHT have been demanding a separate State due to the large-scale influx of non-tribal people into the hills.
ZORO asked India to declare a ceasefire with the Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA) and stop abusing the rights of the Kuki-Chin people in the CHT.
The organisation also appealed India to direct the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Border Security Force not to drive away the Kuki-Chin people who are fleeing Bangladesh.

Issues Faced by Chin-Kuki-Mizo Group in Bangladesh

Constitutional and human rights of the indigenous Kuki-Chin tribes are being violated in the CHT
The CHT is a 13,000 sq. km hilly and forested area in south-eastern Bangladesh.
The British gave special constitutional status to the CHT, but the restrictive laws were repealed by 1903 to let the dwellers of the plains infiltrate the areas of the highlanders.
The CHT was merged with Pakistan in 1947, and all the indigenous tribes began to face discrimination in all aspects of life.
The government of Bangladesh encroached upon the ancestral land of the indigenous tribes, particularly the Kuki-Chin people, in the name of promoting tourism.

India's Refugee Policy

India lacks specific legislation to address the problem of refugees.
India is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.
India has a moral tradition for assimilating foreign people and culture.
The constitution of India also respects the life, liberty, and dignity of human beings.
The Supreme Court in the National Human Rights Commission vs. State of Arunachal Pradesh (1996) held that "while all rights are available to citizens, persons including foreign citizens are entitled to the right to equality and the right to life, among others."
Article 21 of the Constitution encompasses the right of non-refoulement.

Status of Refugees in India

India has accepted various groups of refugees from neighbouring countries since its independence.
The refugees include Partition refugees, Tibetan refugees, Chakma and Hajong, Bangladeshi refugees, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, and Rohingya refugees.

Current Legislative Framework to Handle Refugees

Foreigners Act of 1946 empowers the Central government to detect, detain and deport illegal foreign nationals.
Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 allows authorities to remove an illegal foreigner by force under Article 258(1) of the Constitution of India.
Registration of Foreigners Act of 1939 mandates that all foreign nationals (excluding overseas citizens of India) visiting India on a long-term visa (more than 180 days) register themselves with a Registration Officer within 14 days of arriving in India.
Foreign registration is regulated by the Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939 and the Registration of Foreigners Rules, 1992.

30-Jan-2023: Chin-Kuki-Mizo communities have sought help from India to end the "policy of extermination"

Demands of Chin-Kuki-Mizo Group

The Kuki-Chin tribes of the CHT have been demanding a separate State due to the large-scale influx of non-tribal people into the hills.
ZORO asked India to declare a ceasefire with the Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA) and stop abusing the rights of the Kuki-Chin people in the CHT.
The organisation also appealed India to direct the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Border Security Force not to drive away the Kuki-Chin people who are fleeing Bangladesh.

Issues Faced by Chin-Kuki-Mizo Group in Bangladesh

Constitutional and human rights of the indigenous Kuki-Chin tribes are being violated in the CHT
The CHT is a 13,000 sq. km hilly and forested area in south-eastern Bangladesh.
The British gave special constitutional status to the CHT, but the restrictive laws were repealed by 1903 to let the dwellers of the plains infiltrate the areas of the highlanders.
The CHT was merged with Pakistan in 1947, and all the indigenous tribes began to face discrimination in all aspects of life.
The government of Bangladesh encroached upon the ancestral land of the indigenous tribes, particularly the Kuki-Chin people, in the name of promoting tourism.

India's Refugee Policy

India lacks specific legislation to address the problem of refugees.
India is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.
India has a moral tradition for assimilating foreign people and culture.
The constitution of India also respects the life, liberty, and dignity of human beings.
The Supreme Court in the National Human Rights Commission vs. State of Arunachal Pradesh (1996) held that "while all rights are available to citizens, persons including foreign citizens are entitled to the right to equality and the right to life, among others."
Article 21 of the Constitution encompasses the right of non-refoulement.

Status of Refugees in India

India has accepted various groups of refugees from neighbouring countries since its independence.
The refugees include Partition refugees, Tibetan refugees, Chakma and Hajong, Bangladeshi refugees, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, and Rohingya refugees.

Current Legislative Framework to Handle Refugees

Foreigners Act of 1946 empowers the Central government to detect, detain and deport illegal foreign nationals.
Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 allows authorities to remove an illegal foreigner by force under Article 258(1) of the Constitution of India.
Registration of Foreigners Act of 1939 mandates that all foreign nationals (excluding overseas citizens of India) visiting India on a long-term visa (more than 180 days) register themselves with a Registration Officer within 14 days of arriving in India.
Foreign registration is regulated by the Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939 and the Registration of Foreigners Rules, 1992.

2019

30-Jan-2019: Include Chin refugees in citizenship Bill: Chakma NGOs

Eight organisations of the Chakma community submitted a memorandum to the Ministry of Home Affairs seeking the inclusion of Chin refugees in India by further amending the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. The Bill awaits passage or rejection in the Rajya Sabha.

The Joint Parliamentary Committee that submitted its recommendations to the Centre after a series of discussions with stakeholders had rejected suggestions to include minorities from Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

The memorandum was made on the basis of a January 2009 report by the US-based Human Rights Watch titled ‘The Chin People of Burma: Unsafe in Burma, Unprotected in India’. The report said that there are an estimated 100,000 Chins in Mizoram, which is 20% of the total Chin population in Myanmar. Manipur too has an unspecified number of Chins, who are ethnically related to the majority Mizos of Mizoram and the Kuki-Zomi groups in Manipur.

The number of Chin refugees in India is at least 1.2 lakh. In November 2017, about 1,600 Chins, many of whom were women and children, fled to Lawngtlai district of Mizoram following a military offensive against the Arakan Army militants in that country’s Chin State.

About 4,000 Chin refugees are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office in New Delhi but in June 2018, the UNHCR decided to cancel their ‘refugee status’ with effect from August 1, 2018. The ‘cessation process’ would be completed by December 31 this year on the ground that Myanmar has now become “stable and secure” for them to return home and, therefore, they don’t need “international protection”.