30 Myanmarese, Bangladeshi nationals caught in Tripura

AGARTALA, Dec 2 (IANS): Eighteen Myanmarese and 12 Bangladeshi nationals held for illegally entering India's Tripura state from Bangladesh were Friday sent to jail for 14 days by a court here, police said.

"The foreign nationals seeking jobs crossed over to Tripura earlier this week. They attempted to leave for elsewhere in India via Guwahati when they were arrested by the Mobile Task Force (MTF) troopers Thursday night from Agartala railway station," police spokesman Nepal Das told reporters.

On Friday, the detainees were presented before a local court, which sent them to 14 days' custody. The illegal entrants would

be sent back to Bangladesh after completion of legal processes, he said.

"In search of jobs and to visit the Buddhist sites, the Myanmarese along with the Bangladeshi citizens illegally crossed over to western Tripura through the unfenced Sonamura border from eastern Bangladesh," another police official said, quoting those arrested.

They told police officials that authorities in Myanmar were unresponsive to the plight of the people living in the hilly areas bordering India and Bangladesh.

"Occasionally, the Myanmarese Army has unleashed atrocities on a section of nationals,especially Rohingya Muslim and Buddhist communities," the official said after speaking to the Myanmarese nationals.

Over 50,000 Myanmarese have been living in different parts of neighbouring Mizoram, bordering Myanmar and Bangladesh, and working at various shops and factories after obtaining work permits.

Since the mid-1990s, over 225,000 Myanmar nationals have been sheltering in the Teknaf region in Cox's Bazar district of southeastern Bangladesh.

Four northeastern states of Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam share an 1,880-km border with Bangladesh, while Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh share a 1,640-km unfenced border with Myanmar.

The mountainous terrain, dense forests and other hindrances make the unfenced borders porous and vulnerable, enabling illegal immigrants and intruders cross over without any hurdle.