Kamjong bearing the brunt of immigrants from across the border with 6199
Locals outnumbered at several places Number of detected illegal immigrants pegged at 10,590
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, August 04 2024: Altogether 10,590 illegal immigrants are currently in Manipur of which 143 are at Government's detention centres, said an official source.

A source in the State's Home Department further said that 10,675 illegal immigrants were detected in Manipur in the past five years of which 85 have been repatriated.

It went on to state that many of these illegal immigrants are from Mutit Township and its adjacent areas in Myanmar and they fled to the border district Kamjong due to the clashes between military and anti-regime groups in the neighbouring country.

Altogether 6199 illegal immigrants are in Kamjong currently, as per the source.

Kamjong bearing the brunt of immigrants from across the border with 6199

The district wise distribution of the illegal immigrants stands at Kamjong (6199), Tengnoupal (2406), Chandel (1895), Churachandpur (150), Imphal West (11), Kakching (6), Ukhrul (3), Kangpokpi (2), Imphal East (1), Bishnupur (1), Thoubal (1) .

Notably, the continuous influx has raised concerns amongst the general public in Manipur and also become a matter of huge concern for the administration and security agencies.

It may be mentioned that a Cabinet sub committee led by Tribal Affairs and Hills Minister Letpao Haokip detected about 2500 illegal immigrants settled during a drive last year across multiple districts including Chan- del and Tengnoupal before the unrest erupted last year.

The Cabinet sub committee also has Education Minister Th Basanta Kumar and Water Resources Minister Awangbou Newmai as members.

Notably, several Naga civil bodies and organisations in Manipur had in June this year submitted a memorandum to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to repatriate illegal Myan-mar immigrants to their country.

The memorandum pointed out that around 5,457 illegal immigrants from Myanmar are being sheltered in eight Tangkhul villages in Kamjong district adjoining Myanmar and they have outnumbered the local residents.

The source in the Home Department continued that these illegal immigrants in Manipur also include citizens of Bangladesh, Norway, China and Nepal apart from Myanmar.

The number of illegal immigrants repatriated in the last five years is 85 .

Those who were deported to Myanmar were inmates at the detention centre at Sajiwa.

They were taken to Moreh from Imphal in helicopters before handing them over to the Myanmar authority.

Following the deportation of some Myanmar Nationals to their country in May last year, the International Committee of Jurists (ICJ) had urged India to "immediately halt" their "forced returns" to the strife-torn country and "respect the non-refoulement principle" .

Chief Minister N Biren Singh reacted to the comment of ICJ and termed the statement of the Geneva based international human rights non-governmental organization as irresponsible.

The Chief Minister had on multiple occasions also attributed the influx of illegal immigrants and opposition by a section of people to the Government initiatives to check and stop poppy cultivation and drug trade as the major factors behind the unrest in Manipur.

Even Union Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had also spoken about the issue of illegal immigrants sometime back.

Amit Shah, during a discussion on the Manipur violence in the Lok Sabha on August 9 last year, had said that after the 2021 military coup in Myanmar, a particular Kuki organisation began to put up a fight against the military leadership.

He had claimed that the political instability in the Southeast Asian country had forced many Kukis to flee to Manipur.

The source in the Home Department continued that the State Government has spent Rs 85,55,761 till August 2 on setting up deten- tion centres and on the maintenance of the detainees.

About the measures taken up to check illegal entry of foreigners, the source said that the Government constituted a committee to conduct a verification drive to identify illegal immigrants in Churachandpur, Chandel, Tengnoupal, Kamjong and Pherzawl on March 24 last year.

Saying that the committee detected 2480 illegal immigrants before May 3, 2023, the source added that the Central Govt has also announced plans to fence the Indo-Myanmar border completely.

It further said that a total length of 9.214 Km of border fencing between Border Pillars 79 and 81 has been completed.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has approved border fencing of 120 Km in Manipur out of which DPR has been submitted to the Ministry for 80 Km, the source said and added that the Free Movement Regime between India and Myanmar has also been put under suspension.

The source in the Home Department continued that a process is underway to establish six new police stations and 34 police outposts at the border areas of Manipur apart from appointing civil and police nodal officers to check illegal immigrants in five border districts.

It may be mentioned that Phungyar MLA Leishiyo Keishing had also drawn the attention of the House to let the Assam Rifles guard the Indo-Myanmar border stretch in Manipur effectively during the Assembly session on Friday.

The MLA had claimed that Assam Rifles who are supposed to guard the border areas in Kamjong are deployed a distance away from the actual border.

Saying that only about 120 State police personnel and 30 BSF personnel are deployed along 120 Km long Indo-Myanmar border in Kamjong, he had also urged the Government to deploy more personnel of the State force in border areas of Kamjong.