Thane, June 15 – A court in Maharashtra’s Thane district has sentenced eight Myanmar nationals to two years of imprisonment for illegally residing in India. Following the completion of their sentence, they will be deported to Myanmar, as per the court’s orders.
The verdict was delivered on June 10 by Additional Sessions Judge G.T. Pawar. The court observed that refugee identity cards issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) do not grant legal residency rights in India, as the country is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol.
A copy of the judgment became available on Saturday.
The eight individuals were found guilty under the Foreigners Act, 1946, and each was fined ₹10,000 in addition to the prison term.
A ninth accused, Riyaz Ahmad Akbar Ali Shaikh, an Indian citizen who was charged with aiding the Myanmar nationals, was acquitted due to lack of evidence.
According to the case details, on February 26, 2024, the Uttan Coastal Police, acting on a tip-off, conducted a raid at Chaukgaon Jetty in Thane district, where they detained the eight Myanmar nationals.
In his judgment, Judge Pawar stated, “Although accused numbers one to eight possess UNHCR refugee cards, India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol. Therefore, I conclude that these individuals are foreign nationals who entered and stayed in India without valid documentation.”
The court has ordered that the convicted persons be deported to Myanmar after serving their two-year sentence in prison.
This case underscores India’s legal stance on unauthorized residency, especially for individuals from countries with no bilateral refugee framework.
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