Myanmar refugees kept in Manipur jails well beyond jail term: MHRC

The order passed by MHRC Chairperson Justice UB Shah observed that the “convict prisoners are detained in the jail even after completion of their period of imprisonment”.

Sources in the commission said that there are 35 Myanmar nationals, including children, currently languishing in Manipur jails.

“According to the jail authority, they have taken up the matter with the Commissioner (Home), Government of Manipur, to deport them to Myanmar,” said the order.

“We understand the difficulty of jail authority. The convict prisoners could not be released like other prisoners. The jail authority should, after releasing them, hand over them with their minor children to the Home department, Manipur government for keeping them in the detention centre or to deport them to their own country. The Home department of Manipur shall take up the matter with the Union government, so that it can take up the matter with the Myanmar government. At the time of deportation, if any, the government should provide them some money/articles for their immediate relief,” Justice Shah’s order said.

The MHRC took up the matter after a complaint was filed by Mya Myay Mon, a Myanmar citizen, alleging that six minors had been kept in jail along with their mothers and grandmothers, even after the period of the sentence was over.

While they were arrested by police and kept in Churachandpur jail during their sentence, on completion of their jail term, they were transferred to central jail in Imphal which the state government is now using as a detention centre for illegal immigrants.

The complainant arrived in India before the Covid pandemic. Mon’s visa expired during the pandemic and she was unable to renew it, and has been living in a shelter since then.

After receiving her complaint, the Commission had issued a notice to the Superintendent of Imphal Central Jail, who appeared before the MHRC.

The Superintendent of Imphal Central Jail, in his status report, submitted that the names of the minor children mentioned by the complainant are different from those in the jail records. He added that none of the children were detained or arrested by the police. “They were kept in safe custody with their mothers, grandmothers and guardians who were arrested by the police under section 14 of the Foreigners Act for entering Manipur without valid documents,” the report said.

They were remanded to judicial custody after being convicted in July and August 2022 and sentenced to five months by the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Churachandpur.

“The Superintendent of Imphal Central Jail and IG of Prisons had written to the concerned authority for their deportation to their country. They are being kept in a detention centre now as directed by the court,” the Superintendent said in the report.