Mizzima clarified that the seven Myanmar citizens who had taken refuge in the India-Myanmar border are not "untraceable" as reported in some news reports. They are employees of Mizzima who fled to India after the 2021 coup and were given protection by the UNHCR.
This statement was originally published on Mizzima’s Facebook page on 3 May 2022.
Mizzima would like to express concern about media reports that claim Mizzima journalists and their families who came to Delhi to seek the protection of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in May 2021 are “untraceable”. A section of the media in India has reported that the said seven citizens of Myanmar were Rohingyas and had not reported to the concerned authority as directed by the Hon’ble High Court of Manipur in a case filed by a friend and lawyer of Mizzima, Ms Nandita Haksar.
We would like to clarify that the said seven Myanmar citizens who had taken refuge in Moreh, on the India-Myanmar border, were four adults and three minor children. The adults were employees of Mizzima and the children were the family members of one of them.
The seven came to India after the military junta in Myanmar took power on February 1, 2021 and declared Mizzima along with four other media houses as illegal entities. Journalists were arrested, tortured and jailed. In those circumstances many Mizzima staff resigned, some went into hiding and continued to report, while others took refuge in Thailand and India. At Mizzima, we are proud that we have continued to publish and broadcast independent news throughout the post-coup turmoil and despite the military regime’s efforts to silence us by arresting our journalists and increasing repression inside our country. Six Mizzima colleagues have been arrested since the military coup in February 2021 and two of them remain in jail in Myanmar.
On this World Press Freedom Day, we would like to state that we have committed ourselves to continue our work and thank all our supporters and friends all over the world. We would like to thank India for the support it has given Mizzima since the early days when we started in Delhi in 1998 and for giving shelter to Mizzima staff during the present crisis. We have always thought of ourselves as friends of India and that is why we were shocked that anyone should think we would harm Indian interests.
Since the matter is before the Hon’ble Supreme Court, we do not wish to comment at this time. But since media reports have given the wrong impression, we would like to state that the Mizzima members and their dependents had reported to the Vikaspuri Police Station in New Delhi, India, on their arrival and thereafter were given the protection of the UNHCR and have been staying in Delhi without incident.
