Centre Halts Deportation Of 16-Year-Old Rohingya Girl To Myanmar

Officials, who say the girl is an illegal immigrant, had taken her to a northeastern border town and started processing her papers on Thursday, the police said, even as rights groups pressed the government to halt the process.

Officials halted the deportation of a 16-year-old Rohingya Muslim girl to Myanmar at the last minute today, saying they had not been able to contact officials caught up in the coup over the border. Officials, who say the girl is an illegal immigrant, had taken her to a northeastern border town and started processing her papers on Thursday, the police said, even as rights groups pressed the government to halt the process. But they decided not to go ahead with the deportation today, Mayanglambam Rajkumar, a government official in the border district of Tengnoupal in Manipur, said. He did not say whether the transfer had been postponed or cancelled. "We had contacted our counterparts in Myanmar, but so far we have not received any response," he said, blaming the breakdown in communications on the aftermath of Myanmar's coup.