Displacement and Statelessness: A Study of the Chakma Refugees of Diyun Circle of Arunachal Pradesh

Abstract

The displacement and statelessness are the words have long been recognized as relevant issues in international law. Nowhere the problem of displacement and statelessness is more acute than in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The Sri Lankans, Tibetan, Afghani etc. in India, Burmese in Thailand and Rohingiya in Bangladesh, Vietnamese refugees in Cambodia and many ethnic Chinese in all parts of Southeast Asia are currently living a stateless life. Similar type of human rights abuses are suffering by the Chakmas of Diyun circle of the Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh. The Chakmas are the victims of the partition of the country in 1947. They were displaced from their original inhabitant of Chittagong Hill Tracts and subsequently migrated to different Northeastern states of India. They were rehabilitated in NEFA (now Arunachal Pradesh) by the Government of India are still fighting for citizenship rights and living a stateless life. The present paper examines the causes of displacement and statelessness of the Chakmas of Arunachal Pradesh especially in Diyun of Changlang district. It examines the causes of reactions from the indigenous Arunachali tribes; the All Arunachal Pradesh Student’s Union and even from the State Government. The paper concludes with study of the role of the Chakma organizations, the Union Government and the Supreme Court in their fight for acquiring Indian citizenship rights for the Chakmas with relevance of the study.