Imphal, May 2 : With the deportation of 38 immigrants from Manipur to Myanmar on Thursday, a total of 77 illegal Myanmarese migrants, including 55 women and five children, have been deported to their country since March 8, officials said.

Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said in a post on X: 'Without any discrimination, we have completed the first phase of deportation of illegal immigrants from Myanmar with 38 more immigrants leaving Manipur today through Moreh.'

He added: 'A total of 77 illegal immigrants have been deported in the first phase. One Indian national was also brought back from Myanmar during the handover ceremony. The state government is continuing the identification of illegal immigrants and at the same time, biometric data are also being recorded. Let's keep our borders and country secure.'

A senior official said that the first batch of seven Myanmarese was deported on March 8 through the Moreh border town in Manipur's Tengnoupal district.

The Myanmar nationals fled to Manipur after the military junta seized power in the neighboring country on February 1, 2021.

The Manipur Chief Minister had said earlier that although India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it has given shelter and aid to those fleeing the crisis in Myanmar on humanitarian grounds with a systematic approach.

Since the military took over Myanmar more than three years ago, over 5,000 Myanmar nationals, including women and children, have taken shelter in Manipur while over 32,000 people have taken shelter in Mizoram.

A majority of the refugees in Mizoram live in relief camps and government buildings, while many are accommodated by their relatives.

A large number of Myanmarese also live in rented accommodations.

Besides civilians, a few hundred Myanmarese soldiers also fled to Mizoram in phases after their camps were captured by the armed pro-democracy ethnic groups in Myanmar, who stepped up their battle against the army in October last year.

However, these soldiers have been deported to Myanmar in phases.

Following the advice of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Manipur government has been collecting the biometric details of the Myanmar nationals sheltered in the state. The Mizoram government, however, turned down the MHA appeal to collect biographic and biometric data of the Myanmar refugees.

/IANS