Myanmar citizens who are still being held in India at an Assam State detention centre, despite completing their prison sentences, have temporarily halted their hunger strike following discussions with prison authorities.
142 Myanmar nationals, consisting of 110 Rohingyas and 32 ethnic Chins, who are being held at the Matia Detention Center in Goalpara Township, Assam State, started a hunger strike on 9 September 2024 because prison authorities have refused to release them, even though they have all completed their prison sentences.
Salai Doh Khar, the leader of India for Myanmar, a grassroots advocacy movement made up of human rights activists and organisations from Myanmar and India that are aiming to restore democracy to Myanmar, said that the hunger strikers had temporarily halted their hunger strike seven days after it started, on the evening of 16 September. This happened because the authorities said UN representatives would come to meet the hunger strikers at the detention centre.
Salai Doh Khar said: “Yes, it's true, the protest has stopped since yesterday evening [16 September]. It is only temporary. If the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) doesn't come and the Indian government fails to address their demands, they will resume their protest.”
According to a 13 September announcement by India for Myanmar, at that time, the hunger strikers were already suffering from severe fatigue, stomach aches, and dizziness. It is not known whether the authorities are giving them any healthcare.
The Rohingya inmates, some of whom entered India at the time of the Myanmar military’s genocidal 2017 campaign against the Rohingya, have been detained in India from between seven and 10 years. The Chin detainees were detained as they were trying to seek asylum at the UNHCR office in New Delhi in 2021, after fleeing the coup in Myanmar.
Salai Doh Khar suggested that instead of handing the hunger strikers over to the Myanmar military regime, the Indian government should coordinate with the UNHCR to provide them asylum in India or a third country.
According to an 11 September 2024 statement by the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK), some of the Rohingya hunger strikers already hold valid UNHCR refugee cards.
India has not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol and therefore has no formal obligations regarding refugee issues. In addition, the UNHCR office is not officially recognised by the Indian authorities.
