NEW DELHI: Congress MP Manish Tewari has given adjournment notice on the sealing of India-Myanmar border.
“India has sealed all entry points along the border with Myanmar amidst the ongoing military crackdown following the February coup,” Tewari said in his notice.
“The Government is preventing any Myanmar nationals from entering the country. Myanmar area bordering Mizoram is inhabited by people of Chin community, who are ethnically our brethren and India cannot turn a blind eye on them.”
The Congress MP said India is a signatory to International Covenant of Civil & Political Rights (ICCPR) encapsulating the principle of non-refoulement and sending back refugees to Myanmar violates ICCPR & UN Conventionagainst Torture.
Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga has also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide asylum, food and shelter to those refugees who have arrived in the state since the military seized power in Myanmar last month.
Zoramthanga, who is the leader of the Mizo National Front, in a letter to Modi sought his intervention so that the refugees from Myanmar are given asylum, food and shelter in India. The Mizo National Front and the Congress have alternated power in the state since 1972.
Referring to Union Home Ministry’s advisories to the Chief Secretaries of the four Northeastern states bordering Myanmar and also to the Assam Rifles and Border Security Force for taking action to prevent illegal influx from Myanmar into India, Zoramthanga said, “This is not acceptable to Mizoram.”
“I understand there are certain foreign policy issues where India needs to proceed cautiously. However, we cannot ignore this humanitarian crisis,” the Chief Minister said in his letter.