Even as the Manipur conflict continues, the fate of Myanmar nationals arrested and detained in India, especially in Assam and Manipur, hangs in the balance. While 115 detainees have been deported as of 2025, the condition of around 135 others detained continues to worsen with no relief in sight.
In a statement released in early March this year, India for Myanmar—an exiled group based in India—stated that the detainees are facing severe hardships in prisons and detention centres. Beyond poor food and infrastructure, these centres lack medical care, worsening conditions for many detainees.
The statement also mentioned that those arrested in India have already completed their sentences and paid fines, yet they continue to be detained for years without release. They face threats of deportation to unsafe Myanmar by the Manipur and Assam state governments.
On Monday, one detainee, U Aung Myint died inside a detention centre in Manipur. Since his family were unable to travel to Imphal, his body was sent to a border village to be received by his family.
A member of the India for Myanmar told EastMojo that they are awaiting more details.
“The conditions in these centres are so worrying,” said James, a member of India for Myanmar. “A lot of women and children are detained. Some women even gave birth in the centres under such conditions.”
“Some detainees have been convicted for 13 months now,” James added. “We sent representations to the detention centres, but they were not acknowledged.”
Defence counsel David (who prefers to go by a single first name) refrained from commenting on prison/detention centre conditions in Manipur. “It is better left unsaid,” he remarked. A human rights advocate who took up the case pro bono said, “I comforted them verbally over the phone and through their relatives.”
Those arrested in Manipur were initially jailed before being transferred to a “high-security zone building,” which later became a detention centre. However, counsel David pointed out, “There are no detention centres in Manipur as per legal terms.”
Detainees in Assam and Manipur organised a hunger strike in 2024, demanding release and transfer to other centres such as Delhi or Mizoram.
Those detained in Assam were apprehended while en route to Delhi. Many Myanmar refugees aim to reach Delhi to seek recognition and obtain refugee identity cards from the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees).
India’s Response to Myanmar Refugees
When the military coup occurred, Myanmar citizens began crossing into India—particularly into Manipur, Mizoram, and Nagaland. In response, India’s Home Ministry issued an advisory in late February 2021, directing the state governments of Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh to prevent the influx of refugees. A further directive in early March 2021 prohibited the opening of refugee camps or the provision of assistance to those fleeing Myanmar.
“These are innocent citizens who were fleeing,” said David. “Even politicians sought shelter in India.”
Arrests of displaced Myanmar nationals began in 2022. “Many of them were also pushed back,” David noted. Under the Foreigners Act of 1946, these undocumented individuals were taken to prisons. However, David argued that they are political refugees who fled their country due to threats and risks to their lives.
For instance, 71 Myanmar nationals were arrested in Moreh in January 2023. The court magistrate in Moreh noted that these individuals had entered India “for fear of the military coup that started in February 2021.” The Judicial Magistrate First Class in Moreh, where most Myanmar nationals enter Manipur, acknowledged that the detainees had fled persecution.
“They are foreigners staying in India as per the law,” David admitted, “but they are political refugees.”
The Risks of Deportation
Those deported so far have been mostly women and children. “For men, deportation is extremely risky,” David warned. “They will be killed or forced into service by the junta.”
After serving their sentences, Myanmar nationals are released and deported. Some are scheduled for deportation in the last week of March, David informed, expressing his concerns.
“To send them anywhere in Myanmar is risky,” he explained. “For instance, Tamu is a dangerous place for deportees.”
For many detainees, release means freedom, but what awaits them in Myanmar is even more dangerous. They are deported from India’s border town of Moreh to Tamu in the Sagaing region of Myanmar, which, according to legal experts like David, is unsafe. He suggested that Mizoram could be a better alternative, where deportees could be transferred to relief camps or detention centres rather than being sent directly back to Myanmar.
“I have more than a hundred cases still pending,” said David.
Legal challenges amid the Manipur Crisis
Legal work for detainees came to a grinding halt after the eruption of the Manipur crisis in May 2023. David, a human rights advocate and legal counsel, was also displaced. “This has been a major setback,” he admitted. “But I’m trying to work remotely through colleagues.”
A major challenge now is finding legal representation for detainees. “No lawyers in Imphal are willing to take up these cases,” said a Manipuri human rights activist and lawyer who wished to remain anonymous.
The violent conflict between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities has led to the displacement of over 70,000 people, the destruction of hundreds of homes and villages, and the loss of more than 200 lives. The crisis continues, even as the President’s Rule was imposed in February 2025.
Since the Manipur crisis, the cases of Myanmar detainees have become highly politicised.
“The whole narrative of ‘illegal immigrants’ has complicated their cases,” said David. “It’s now even harder to secure bail or release orders.”
“I had 10 detainees with release orders just before the Manipur conflict started. But the crisis has left everything stuck,” he said.
These refugees are now caught in a web of political narratives, labeled as “illegal immigrants” or even “narco-terrorists.” The state governments of Manipur and Assam remain indifferent to their plight.
“There is no Indian law that grants them asylum,” David pointed out. “The only option is deportation.”
The chilling reality, however, is that once deported, they disappear.
“I have no means of knowing what happens to the deported ones,” David admitted. “I only have scattered information—some men are forcibly recruited by the junta, while for most, their whereabouts remain unknown.”
“Most of them—we don’t know their status,” he said.
The Harsh reality of detention Centers
Life in detention is so unbearable that many detainees prefer deportation despite the dangers. Given the conditions and treatment in the detention centres, some detainees feel that any location—even deportation—is preferable.
“They prefer to be deported,” he said.
According to India for Myanmar, about 10 detainees are currently in critical condition, suffering from severe health issues. The group has urged the Indian government to halt deportations and cease threats of such actions until stability is restored in Myanmar.
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