Guwahati: After deporting seven Rohingiya Muslims, Assam in consultation with ministry of home affairs has started process to deport at least 23 more Rohingiya Muslims, currently languishing in three different detention camps in Assam, to Myanmar.
Pointing out that the Assam police has already completed the verification of nationality of these immigrants, security sources, however, said that these immigrants have also agreed and given consent for their deportation back to their country.
The Myanmar government has also agreed to take them back besides ensuring their safety, security sources said that these immigrants are currently lodged in Silchar, Goalpara and Tezpur detention camps.
Security sources said that the Myanmarese authorities, in consultation with ministry of home and external affairs, have completed the verification of their home addresses. “We are in touch with the nodal agency in the neighbouring country and the deportation will take place in a phased manner,” security sources said, admitting that they are yet to fix up the date for their deportation.
Meanwhile, the bordering guarding forces in Assam and other frontier states have been kept on alert following an intelligence input indicating exodus of substantial number of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar to Northeastern states about two weeks back.
Pointing out that border-guarding forces are on alert since then, security sources however said that no such movement of Rohingya either from Myanmar or Bangladesh was noticed. Security sources said that even the railways was alerted to keep watch on possible movement of Rohingya from the region to other parts of the country.
According to an estimate, around 40,000 Rohingya are now living illegally in India and majority of them are staying in places like Jammu, Hyderabad, Kanpur and outskirts of Delhi. Most of them came some time back and the Government of India is yet to take a decision on their future.
Security sources however claimed that so far, the Northeast was not facing any threat from possible mass exodus of Rohingya as it would not be easy for them to enter the region from the locations where they are staying in Myanmar and Bangladesh. Sources pointed out that in the past, a few Rohingya managed to enter the region either through the India-Myanmar border or through the international border in Bangladesh through Tripura. But their number is not large and around 30 of them were caught in different parts of Assam and are now in jail, security sources added.
