Rohingya Muslims Bypass Bangladesh to Directly Enter India

As per an estimate, more than 40000 illegal Rohingya Muslims are presently staying in India most of whom have crossed over from Bangladesh. The recent arrest of a Rohingya Muslim in India’s northeastern state of Manipur has confirmed that they are exploring other routes to enter India.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — Following increased vigil by India along the border with Bangladesh, Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims fleeing the country have discovered new routes to sneak into India. The recent arrest of an illegal immigrant in Manipur points to the fact that Rohingya Muslims are now directly entering the Indian state that shares a border with Myanmar.

"Police at Moreh border town arrested one Rohingya Muslim during a routine check. It has been learned that seven of them had sneaked into Manipur and the rest were absconding. A manhunt is on," Biren Singh, Chief Minister of Manipur said in the state assembly on Friday.

Illegal Rohingya migrants sneaking into Manipur,says CM N Biren Singh said: "Police personnel at Moreh border town hv arrested 1 Rohingya Muslim during a routine check.It was learned that7of tm had sneaked into Manipur&rest were absconding.https://t.co/lvh1q6uFuB pic.twitter.com/Eqmxic1muF

— B.Sethia (@sethia_b) 22 декабря 2017 г.

​Authorities in Manipur have launched a massive search operation to fish out illegal immigrants. In the last few days, police have rounded up some 560 persons of the doubtful nationality of which 105 undocumented ones were forced back. It is suspected that Rohingya Muslims are using bamboo bridges in the difficult hilly areas to cross the border.

"Indian truck drivers are bringing the outsiders and land is being allotted to them by officials. Some politicians use them as vote banks. All the legislatures should conduct a survey of their respective constituencies to establish how many outsiders are there and inform me accordingly," Biren Singh added.

As per an estimate, more than 40000 illegal Rohingya Muslims are presently staying in India. Most of them have landed in India via Bangladesh. However, it has been difficult to establish the actual headcount.

"Since entry of such illegal immigrants into the country without valid travel documents is clandestine and surreptitious, it is not possible to have accurate data of such illegal Rohingya immigrants living in various parts of the country," Kiren Rijuju, India’s Minister of State for Home Affairs said in the Parliament on Wednesday.

Presently, India has no legislation to deal with refugees and asylum seekers. The country’s apex court is hearing an appeal against the Narendra Modi-led government’s decision to deport Rohingya Muslims back to Myanmar.

READ MORE: India Grants $25 Mln to Myanmar for Harboring Repatriated Rohingya Refugees