Iran Press/ Asia : The Indian foreign Ministry said that on October 4, 2018, Indian authorities handed over the men to Myanmar authorities at the border town of Moreh in Manipur State after “reconfirming their willingness to be repatriated.”
According to Human Rights Watch,Indian officials reported that Myanmar authorized the return confirming the men’s identities. The government attorney stated in court that Myanmar had given the men identity certificates, temporary travel documents valid only for a month.
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These documents did not confirm that the Myanmar government had accepted them as “nationals and citizens,” as the Indian government claimed. Rohingya are not granted citizenship in Myanmar, where they are eligible only for National Verification Cards, identity documents that restrict freedom of movement and have been commonly issued under coercion.
The government told the court that, in addition to the information about these seven men, it had received information from the Assam state government about 12 other people in 2016, but did not disclose any further information on the status of their detention.
At least 700,000 Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh to escape violence in Myanmar in the past year.
Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in January to complete a voluntary repatriation of the refugees in two years. Myanmar set up two reception centers and what it says is a temporary camp near the border in Rakhine to receive the first arrivals.
UN officials have accused Myanmar's military of ethnic cleansing. The army says it has been tackling insurgents.
The Rohingya are one of many ethnic minorities in Myanmar, where the government sees them as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh and denies them citizenship.
Fleeing refugees have reported killings, rapes and arson on a large scale. Myanmar has said its operations in Rakhine were a legitimate response to attacks on security forces by Rohingya insurgents.
Rohingya insurgent attacks on security posts in Rakhine in August last year sparked a military operation that has sent nearly 700,000 Rohingya fleeing to refugee camps in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh. Security Council envoys visited those vast camps last week.
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