Asian Centre for Human Rights

Subject: Complaint to stop forcible repatriation of the Myanmarese Chin refugees from Aizwal by Young Mizo Association and Peace Accord MNF Returnees Association (PAMRA).

Dear Justice Anand,

I am writing as a follow up to our compliant of 23 June 2003 against the forcible eviction of the Myanmarese Chin refugees from Lunglei areas of Mizoram by a private organisation, Mizo Joint Action Committee (MJAC), from 20 June 2003, their arrest and imminent deportation to Myanmar.

Today, I am writing once again to seek the interventions of the National Human Rights commission against the forcible deportation of the Myanmarese refugees by Young Mizo Association and Peace Accord MNF Returnees Association (PAMRA) from Aizwal areas after the rape of a minor girl by a refugee.

A local Mizo girl was raped on July 17 by a Mizo immigrant from Myanmar in a hotel run by his father in Aizwal. Angered by the "ghastly crime", the state's largest NGO, the Young Mizo Association, has vowed to "clean up" the capital of "foreigners". The Myanmarese refugees have been asked to leave Mizoram immediately.

Adding fuel to the controversy, the Peace Accord MNF Returnees Association (PAMRA) - a splinter group of Mizo National Front (MNF) returnees in a press release on 22 July 2003 stated that it would take action against foreigners who continue to remain in the state a month from now.

While the State and its agencies must take action against crimes and punish the rapist under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the YMA and PAMRA have no jurisdiction or legal power to enforce forcible repatriation of the Chin refugees without due process of law or punish all the Chins for a crime committed by a Chin refugee.

The unlawful actions by such private groups in the North East have become a menace and the State governments often abdicate their responsibilities to private organisations. Such actions by private bodies are without any basis and have no sanction in law and is not in accordance with the procedure established by law under Article 21 of the Constitution.

ACHR once again appeals to the NHRC to intervene by taking following measures:

- Direct the State government of Mizoram to immediately halt forcible repatriation by private organizations like YMA and PAMRA;

- Direct the State government of Mizoram to initiate appropriate action against those individuals or organisations who were responsible for forcible repatriation of the Chin refugees under relevant provisions of Indian Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code;

- Direct the State government of Mizoram to submit a comprehensive list of detained Chin refugees and their status, inter alia, the laws/provisions under which the refugees have been charged with, the place where they have been detained and the status of their cases if any;

- Direct the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of External Affairs to submit a detailed report to the NHRC about the status of refugees in India inter alia, the number of refugees, their country of origin, the kind of assistance - health care, food, education, cash dole - provided to each category (ethnic orgin/nationality) of these refugees;

- Direct the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs, State government of Mizoram and state government of Manipur NOT TO REPATRIATE any Chin or Burmese refugee or any other refugee including 580 odd refugees rejected by UNHCR without any written explanation as to the reasons for the rejection, without the permission of National Human Rights Commission which will verify the threat of persecution because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group of these refugees; and

- Create a separate division within the NHRC to deal with the refugee problems in India;

Looking forward to your urgent intervention.

With kind regards,

Yours sincerely

Suhas Chakma
Director