Myanmar refugees & Manipur conflict
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 27 2023 -

Chin people of Myanmar and the Kukis residing in Manipur (India) share the same ethnic lineage.

This is a fact accepted by both the Kukis and Chins across the Indo-Myanmar international border.

It is also a fact that the Chin people have been fighting hard and long against the Myanmar’s military junta which is only unleashing a fierce retribution.

The Myanmar military’s retribution has sent lakhs of people fleeing.

This is another fact known to the whole world.

Now let’s juxtapose this fact with the statement given by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the floor of the Parliament.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah went on record stating that illegal immigrants have a strong hand in the Manipur violence which erupted on May 3, 2023.

Mr Shah traced the current series of events to the military junta’s takeover in neighbouring Myanmar, which was opposed by the Chin people in that country, and which led to an influx of Chin refugees into both Mizoram and Manipur.

More often than not, these Chin refugees, many suspect, got assimilated among the Kuki populace in Manipur.

Already, several quarters have raised deep suspicion about involvement of illegal immigrants from Myanmar in the ongoing violence.

As per reports available at the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, the ongoing civil war in Myanmar has displaced 18,27,000 people since February 2021, among which over 53,000, mostly from the conflict-ridden Chin State and Sagaing region of Myanmar — the hotbed of armed resistance against the junta — have entered India’s northeastern states of Mizoram and Manipur till the month of May 2023.

This figure is what has been officially accounted but many have well grounded suspicion that thousands more might have intruded into Mizoram and Manipur though their number has not been reflected in any official document as yet.

Here one should not miss the fact that Manipur shares 400 Kms long porous border with Myanmar. If one takes into consideration, the unending supply of sophisticated arms, ammunition and military gears used by Kuki aggressors against the Meitei people, the Chin/Kuki refugees from Myanmar, as many have solid reasons to suspect, might be playing a much deeper role than what meets the eye.

Tracing the supply route(s) of the huge arsenal boasted by Kuki aggressors and identification of the suppliers of this seemingly unending flow of arms and ammunition will definitely go a long way in determining the foreign hands and the degree of their involvement in the Manipur unrest.

Again, any serious study or analysis of the Manipur violence will never be complete without exploring the dimension of poppy cultivation and illegal drug business.

According to a report in Economic Times, narcotics trade is playing a significant role in Manipur violence and the drug cartels are utilizing large chunks of the hilly districts for quality poppy cultivation.

A report published by the Netherlands-based Transnational Institute in December 2021, observed how “opium cultivation in Manipur seems to be more integrated within the regional drug economy and connected to other actors, notably from Myanmar.”

Any attempt for a comprehensive understanding of the Manipur violence must not overlook these facts and observations.

In another word, Manipur violence is just not a conflict between two communities.

Rather, it seemingly has deep connection with Myanmar or more precisely illegal immigration from Myanmar.

According to data from the Narcotics and Affairs of Border, the scale of poppy cultivation in Manipur spread across 15,400 acres of land in the hills between 2017 and 2023. Of these 15,400 acres, 13,121 acres come under Kuki dominated areas.

The sudden explosion of poppy cultivation in the hills of Manipur coincided with large scale influx of illegal immigrants from Myanmar.

Is it mere coincidence or does it indicate a deeper connection between Chin/Kuki refugees from Myanmar and industrial scale poppy cultivation in Manipur?

This is another area which calls for immediate and thorough investigation.