NEW DELHI: India has begun deporting Myanmar nationals who had fled a recent surge in fighting between the ruling junta and rebels in a border region, a top state official said on Friday.

“First batch of Myanmar nationals who entered India illegally deported today,” N. Biren Singh, chief minister of Manipur state which borders Myanmar, said in a post on social media platform X.

“Although India is not signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it has given shelter & aid to those fleeing the crisis in Myanmar on humanitarian grounds with a systematic approach,” Singh said.

Thousands of civilians have fled the fighting in Myanmar, crossing into India’s north-eastern state of Manipur. Singh posted a video showing the Myanmar nationals, mostly women and children, being sent away.

The deportation comes a month after the Indian government called for an immediate end to a free movement border agreement with Myanmar that allowed residents living in border zones to venture a short distance into their neighbouring nation’s territory without a visa.

India is also erecting a 1,643-kilometre-long fence along the porous border with Myanmar through remote jungles and snow-capped Himalayan peaks.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2024