WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT
TOPIC – INDO-MYANMAR RELATIONS WITH REFERENCE TO
REFUGEES IN INDIA
Submitted By: MITADRU SAHA
Division: A
PRN no: 22010323048
Class: BA LLB
Division: A
Subject – POLITICAL SCIENCE – III (SEMESTER-IV)
Under the Guidance
of
Dr. Mr. Radhakrishnan Raman, Assistant Professor
Date: 30.03.2024
ABSTRACT
Due to their shared history and common interests, India and Myanmar are able to work
together in a number of areas.
The political, economic, and social domains of a nation are frequently profoundly affected by
forced migration. Sometimes it escalates to the point where there is a real threat to national
security, which has an impact on foreign policy. Not an exception, India has had a significant
refugee crisis since gaining its independence. Due to unfavorable political conditions, a plight
of refugees has reached India from unstable neighboring countries. One such Muslim ethnic
minority from Myanmar that left their home nation due to fear of religious persecution is the
Rohingyas. In 2016, data show that there were 36,000 Rohingya refugees in India, spread
across all regions of the country, as the Islamic countries had closed their doors to them.
The "Protection Certificate" provided by the UNHCR in New Delhi has proven to be an
inadequate solution to the Rohingya Refugee crisis, given that India is not a party to the 1951
United Nations Refugee Convention and the increasing India-Myanmar relationship. But a
new debate is beginning to emerge in which it is acknowledged that the Rohingyas pose a
serious threat to India's security. There is concern that they could become "Jihadist
Radicalization" susceptible and join one of the many insurgent groups in northeastern India to
voice their complaints to the international community.
What will be the impact of the Rohingya refugee crisis in India? Will it be a determining
factor in the future of... the relationship between India and Myanmar at a time when India
views Myanmar as a strategically significant nation for her "Act East" policy and when both
nations have chosen to work together to handle the issue of insurgency along their shared
border.
INTRODUCTION
Concerns should also be raised about India's strategic connections to the Myanmar military
and divergent opinions on the refugee crisis: Mizoram wants to maintain the status quo, while
Manipur wants to block the border with Myanmar. The 1951 United Nations Refugee
Convention and its 1967 Protocol are not ratified by India.
Countries vulnerable by position or policy rarely escape the collateral damage of war, and
refugees are an inevitable result of battle. This also applies to India. It is surprising, therefore,
that despite a lengthy history of neighboring states sending refugees, the best policy New
Delhi has come up with opposes refugees, particularly the Rohingya refugees and the Kuki-
Chin-Zo tribespeople from Myanmar. The residents of the states that border the international
border, however, have presented numerous obstacles to that viewpoint.
INDIA - MYANMAR RELATIONS
India and Myanmar signed the Treaty of Friendship in 1951. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's
visit to Myanmar in 1987 strengthened relations between India and that country. Between the
two nations, numerous agreements for bilateral cooperation were inked. Institutional
procedures were built to facilitate regular conversation on a number of bilaterally relevant
issues.
Ethnic, historical, religious, and cultural links are the foundation of India and Myanmar's
connection. Since India is regarded as the birthplace of Lord Buddha, many from Myanmar
travel there on pilgrimage. The geographic closeness of these two nations has promoted
interpersonal contact and helped to maintain and grow friendly relations. The Bay of Bengal
serves as both Myanmar's and India's maritime border, spanning over 1,600 kilometers on
land. Approximately 2.5 million people of Indian descent reside in Myanmar.
COOPERATION BETWEEN INDIA & MYANMAR
As of July 1997, Myanmar has been an ASEAN member. As far as ASEAN countries go,
only Myanmar shared a land border with India. A few projects involving India and Myanmar
are: BIMSTEC: In December 1997, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical
and Economic Cooperation signed the BIMSTEC Free Trade Agreement and Myanmar
joined as a member. Myanmar mostly trades with Thailand and India in the BIMSTEC area.
All agricultural products, including pulses, beans, and maize, are Myanmar's top exports to
India. Myanmar also exports forest goods to India, such as teak and hardwood. Mekong
Ganga Cooperation: Since its founding in November 2000, Myanmar has been a part of this
cooperative. India and the five ASEAN nations of Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and
Vietnam are partners in the Mekong Ganga Cooperation program.
STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF MYANMAR FOR INDIA
After the two countries signed the Treaty of Friendship in 1951, relations between India and
Myanmar eventually improved. Afterwards, during Rajiv Gandhi's visit in 1987, the basis of
their friendship strengthened and took on greater significance. Due to their common
historical, cultural, physical, and economic links, India and Myanmar have a strategic
relationship. The nations also border each other maritimely in the Bay of Bengal and
geographically on land. India and Myanmar army have conducted a number of combined
military actions, such as Operation Sunshine, to protect India's national security interests
against left-wing extremists and drug trade routes in the northeastern state.
WHY IS MYANMAR IMPORTANT TO INDIA ?
India may access other South-East Asian countries through Myanmar. Over 1,600 kilometers
separate India and Myanmar's shared land border. Myanmar and four Indian states—
Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland—share a land border. Off the coast of
the Bay of Bengal, the two nations also have a shared maritime border. The Free Movement
Regime mechanism is in place in India and Myanmar. The purpose of this method is to allow
members of the numerous ethnic groups to freely travel across the borders of both countries
without the need for a visa. Only travel up to 16 kilometers from the border is allowed
without a visa. But the Union Home Ministry's research has highlighted the negative
consequences of the Free Movement Regime. According to the research, several insurgency
groups are abusing this system to smuggle fake Indian currency notes (FICN), weapons and
ammunition, drugs, and other psychoactive substances. The Myanmar government has
recently worked with India to drive the rebels from their land.
ROHINGYA ISSUE
An ethnic group known as the Rohingya is based in Myanmar's Rakhine state. These
individuals are referred to as "illegal immigrants from Bangladesh" in the 1982 Citizenship
Act of Myanmar, which does not recognize them. Refugees from Myanmar are said to have
fled to Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Laos, and other nations under perilous circumstances.
Over 40,000 Rohingya migrants are reportedly residing illegally in India, according to an
Intelligence Bureau (IB) study. Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and West
Bengal are among the states where these individuals have been sighted, along with the Union
Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi-NCT. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) claims that
the Arakan Salvation Army, a banned terror group made up of Rohingyas, plans to attack
India and is supported in this endeavor by Pakistan's infamous ISI. Rohingyas have also been
detained in connection with the terror attack on the Mahabodhi temple in Gaya (Bihar).
Anti-Rohingya Operations
The Jammu and Kashmir police began a massive operation on December 20 in five Jammu
districts (Jammu, Doda, Kishtwar, Poonch, and Rajouri) against individuals who were
reportedly housing Rohingya refugees from Myanmar or assisting them in obtaining official
documentation. Almost forty individuals were detained for interrogation, after which a few
were taken into custody. The police have been compelled to carry out these sporadic raids
because local BJP officials have been at the forefront of anti-Rohingya agitation since 2021.
Although the number of Rohingya in these districts hasn't decreased as a result of this, they
are nevertheless frequently harassed.
In other states, there have also been similar campaigns against the Rohingya, who are
considered "illegal foreigners." While human rights organizations have stated that these
actions are worsening the plight of the poor refugees, other reports have attempted to portray
them as criminals and terrorist sympathizers who constitute a threat to national security. The
Union Home Minister commended the Prime Minister in November 2023 for preventing the
entry of Rohingya refugees into India. This is peculiar because there are still thousands of
"illegal" Rohingya living in the nation. In an apparent case of bureaucratic error, the
government opted to relocate some of them to apartments that were built with official
permission in Delhi, the capital city. The government's public policy is still against their
presence, nevertheless.
On December 24, 2023, 142 Rohingya migrants—47 women and 59 children—were saved by
the Indian Coast Guard from the sea close to Shaheed Dweep, also called Neil Island. The
refugees were risking their lives to cross from Bangladesh to Indonesia by boat. A technical
issue with the boat forced the marine police to tow it to Shaheed Dweep. The authorities in
Port Blair took the evacuees and housed them in a makeshift shelter. That action, commended
by the UNHCR, was primarily a humanitarian attempt to save lives and did not, therefore,
violate the nation's declared policy that is hostile to, if not outright condemns, refugees.
Different story in the North-East
The situation of the Kuki-Chin-Zo refugees, who are also fleeing Myanmar, is different
hundreds of kilometers away in the northeastern regions of Manipur and Mizoram.
Thousands of people have crossed the porous border into Mizoram and Manipur since the
military takeover in February 2021. There are 398 kilometers with Manipur and 510
kilometers with Mizoram along the 1,643-kilometer Indo-Myanmar border. Much of the
border is not guarded. Since the Brotherhood Alliance's Operation 1027 was initiated in
October 2023, there has been a notable surge in the number of refugees arriving. Based on
publicly accessible data, about 30,000 refugees are in Mizoram and 4,000 have entered
Manipur. Manipur local sources, on the other hand, report a considerably lower amount of
2000 and attribute the greater figure to a scheme by the state government to inflate the
migration.
Manipur Biren Singh, the chief minister and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has
falsely accused "Myanmarese foreigners" of causing the ongoing ethnic conflicts between the
Kukis and the majority Meiteis. Similar charges have been made by India's Home Minister.
The state government's official policy is still focused on getting rid of the refugees as a
helpful diversion from the realities of ongoing domestic strife, despite Chief Minister Singh's
admission on a few occasions that the influx of Myanmar citizens into India is a humanitarian
problem.
The state's Kuki community, who have embraced the refugees, has opposed that goal. Many
of the Kukis in Manipur have familial ties to the refugees from Myanmar, and they are of the
same ethnic stock. Furthermore, unhindered movement of people is made possible by the free
movement regime (FMR) that permits individuals living on both sides of the unfenced border
between Myanmar and India to cross. The agreement was first implemented in the 1970s and
most recently updated in 2016.
A border pass, usually good for a year, is required for entry. Once present, visitors can stay
for up to two weeks. This is because the FMR allows any member of the hill tribes who is
either an Indian or a Myanmar citizen and who lives within 16 kilometers on either side of
the border to cross. This is an imperial legacy. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the Manipur
government decided to halt the FMR in 2020. However, neither daily routines nor the panic-
driven exodus of refugees fleeing the conflict in Myanmar have been much impacted by this.
Open arms policy in Mizoram
Mizoram's state administration has welcomed the refugees, in contrast to Manipur's official
stance that denigrates them. The provisions and necessities are available. The number of kids
enrolled in schools exceeds 6,000. State disaster management and reconstruction officials
announced in September 2022 that Rupees 3 crore had been distributed as relief. Non-
governmental organizations, religious institutions, student associations, and local government
officials have also contributed to the refugees' food and relief supplies. With the issuance of
identity cards and refugee certificates, the state government declared that it had "more or
less" finished profiling the migrants.
The central administration in New Delhi and the state government in Aizawl are at odds over
this brotherly hug. The state government of Mizoram has requested financial assistance from
New Delhi to aid the Myanmar refugees. A portion of the refugees are coming from
Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts, while nearly 6,000 are from nearby Manipur, where they
were twice uprooted due to ongoing ethnic conflicts between the Kuki and Meiteis. However,
in defiance of the Center's June 2023 directive to collect the refugees' biometric and
biographical information and finish it by September 2023, the state government, led by the
Mizo National Front (MNF), has refused to comply. The position taken by Chief Minister
Zoramthanga has caused tension in relations between the state and the center.
Even after the Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) won a majority in the December 2023
elections, Mizoram's stance on refugees has remained same. In comparison to the previous
administration, the new Chief Minister Lalduhoma has promised to give the refugees better
relief. The Kuki-Chin-Zo tribes should be united under a single administrative unit, and ZPM
is in favor of Greater Mizoram.
Need for a Tweak in the Official Policy
Regarding the flood of refugees, the Union government seems to be in an uncompromising
attitude. Media sources state that Delhi intends to abandon the FMR along the Myanmar
border. Drone surveys of the border regions have been finished, and construction of barriers
along about 300 kilometers of the border is anticipated to begin shortly. Cross-border travel
will require a visa.
The chief minister of Mizoram is against this plan because he believes that the border
separating India and Myanmar was drawn artificially by the British to split the Mizos
between two nations. As it shares a similar opinion regarding the artificiality of the border,
Nagaland is also anticipated to object. The states' resistance could make it challenging to
maintain the sanctity of the guarded border, even though border security is the responsibility
of the federal government. Early in January 2024, the Union Home Minister gave the
Mizoram Chief Minister an assurance that no Myanmar refugee would be deported until
things in Myanmar had returned to normal. It is unclear, nevertheless, if the Union
Government would reimburse the Mizoram government for the expenses incurred in helping
the migrants.
It is one thing to declare that India will not accommodate the steadily increasing number of
humanitarian refugees from nearby nations, but it is quite another to take no action regarding
the circumstances leading to these population shifts. Proactive measures to address the very
issues that continue to encourage the movement of civilians from Myanmar into India must
be part of New Delhi's policy of imposing a zero-refugee regime in states like Manipur and
Mizoram. In this regard, the growing refugee crisis in North America and Europe provide
stark lessons about the futility of placing blame on the victims.
Interestingly, India has adopted a pro-military junta in Myanmar, with the exception of
sporadic statements expressing worry and a desire for "constructive dialogue" to end the
violence. The strategy, in the 35 months since the coup in February 2021, has not achieved
any of India's strategic goals, making it as useless as it is morally reprehensible. The People's
Defence Forces (PDFs) and Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs) have gained control over
military posts and vital towns, causing the military junta to become more weaker and unable
to handle any of India's security or strategic issues. It is time to reconsider the strategy while
keeping India's interests in mind.
CONCLUSION
There will be much more for India and Myanmar to work together on in their illustrious
future collaboration. Apart from Myanmar, India should expedite the implementation of its
diverse initiatives in other global nations, particularly those that are next to it. India also
needs to realize that its relations with any country, including Myanmar, should not be
influenced by the "China factor." The relationship with these countries ought to be
independent, and India ought to take the initiative when necessary. The relationship between
India and Myanmar can be used as an example of how neighbors can be close friends and
productive collaborators if it receives renewed focus.
Due to the absence of a national refugee law and India's non-ratification of the 1951
Convention and the 1967 Protocol, the country's asylum-granting process has never been
uniform or straightforward; rather, it has always been convoluted and politicized.
Nonetheless, it appears from India's numerous court rulings, constitutional precepts, and
international accords that India has duties and responsibilities to safeguard refugees.
Furthermore, given India's increased prominence in the world today, it has an even bigger
responsibility to prove that it is carrying out its duties. Consequently, notwithstanding its past
mistakes, India ought to take a more humane approach to handling the current situation.
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