Arrested Myanmar nationals being deported today: Assam IG (Law and Order)

Assam Inspector General (Law and Order) Deepak Kumar on Wednesday said seven Myanmar nationals arrested in 2017 are being handed over to Myanmar authorities today.

"7 Myanmar nationals who were arrested in 2017 are being deported today. Our police team is going to drop them off at Moreh border where they'll be handed over to Myanmar authorities," he told ANI.

This comes shortly after a plea was filed in the Supreme Court seeking a restraint on the Centre from deporting seven Rohingya refugees lodged in the Silchar detention Centre in Assam.

On Tuesday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opined that India needs to support Bangladesh much more and put pressure on Myanmar to ease the Rohingya crisis.

The UNSG, while delivering a public lecture on Global Solutions, Global Challenges in the national capital, while responding to a question on Rohingya refugees, said: "I have not seen any community as discriminated as the Rohingya. Deep-rooted racism in Buddhist Myanmar society. The way Rohingya is treated by extremism and armed forces was brutal and it is not acceptable. India needs to support Bangladesh much more and put pressure on Myanmar to ease the worst humanitarian crisis I have ever seen."

More than 650,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Rakhine in August last year after Myanmar's army launched a massive crackdown in its northern state, retaliating the attacks by insurgents, Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on the country's police posts and a military base.

A large number of Rohingya refugees, since then, have taken shelter in India and Bangladesh, and are staying in refugee camps, often raising security concerns.