Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The home ministry on Friday directed four Northeastern states — Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh to “take action as per law to check illegal influx from Myanmar into India,” sources told this newspaper.
A top ministry functionary called up the four chief ministers to brief them about India’s position on the issue. The chief ministers were told that the states did not have any power to grant refugee status to foreigners since India is not a signatory to UN convention, government sources said.
The states were asked to maintain vigil and control at the borders with Myanmar in view of repeated incidents of people from the country attempting to cross over to India. “The chief ministers were told to examine the influx on a case to case basis and provide shelter to only those facing genuine persecution,” said a senior government official.
Many are believed to be trying to cross over to India, with these four states sharing border with Myanmar. Mizoram, especially, has been seeing an influx following the military coup in the country.s
