MHA asks Manipur, Mizoram to record biometric details of 'illegal migrants'

Imphal: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked Manipur and Mizoram governments to capture biographic and biometric details of ‘illegal migrants’ in the two states and complete the process by September this year.

MHA’s Under Secretary Pratap Singh Rawat wrote to the Chief Secretaries of Manipur and Mizoram to capture the biographic and biometric details of all ‘illegal migrants’ in the two states.

The letter, which was written last month following a meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla on April 28, said that the MHA had issued detailed guidelines and instructions in March 2021 on overstay and illegal migration of foreign nationals.

The detailed guidelines and instructions were again circulated on October 21, 2022 to all state governments and Union Territories for compliance.

“For capturing of biometrics of illegal migrants, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has made arrangements in all the district headquarters. This facility is also proposed to be extended up to the police station level,” said the letter, available with IANS.

It mentioned that Manipur and Mizoram governments have already appointed nodal officers to undertake the process to capture biographic and biometric details of ‘illegal migrants’ in their respective states.

Manipur’s ruling BJP MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh, who is the son-in-law of Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, tweeted: “GOI has undertaken the task to identify illegal migrants across Manipur and Mizoram by capturing biometric data which is to be completed by September 30.

"State government had already started this earlier this year due to which nearly 2,500 illegal migrants were identified. All districts have to arrange this up to the police station level as per the standardised format of NCRB. Looks like this is a step towards NRC.”

After the military takeover in Myanmar in February 2021, thousands of Myanmarese fled to Mizoram with around 35,000 men, women and children from that country now staying in the mountainous state.

Over 1,000 tribals have also taken shelter in Mizoram after trouble broke out in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of southeast Bangladesh. The tribal refugees have fled from their native villages in the CHT after an armed conflict started in mid-November last year between the Bangladesh Army and the Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA), also known as Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF).

The KNA is an underground militant outfit demanding sovereignty for the Chin-Kukis residing in Rangamati and Bandarban districts of CHT and to protect the tribal people's tradition, culture and livelihood.

After the Myanmarese started coming to Mizoram, the MHA in March 2021 had written to the Chief Secretaries of Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh, asking them to “take appropriate action as per law to check illegal influx from Myanmar into India”.

It added that state governments have no powers to grant “refugee” status to any "foreigner”, and India is not a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention of 1951 and its 1967 Protocol.

Four northeastern states -- Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh -- share 1,640 km unfenced borders with Myanmar.

Meanwhile, a report by a sub-committee of the Manipur Cabinet has revealed that 2,187 illegal immigrants from Myanmar have set up settlements in 41 locations in four districts.

The sub-committee is headed by Tribal Affairs and Hill Development Minister Letpao Haokip, who is one of the 10 tribal MLAs who has called for a separate administration (equivalent to separate state) following the outbreak of ethnic violence in the state on May 3.

Among the 10 MLAs, seven, including Haokip, belong to the BJP.

The report said that the highest number of 1,147 Myanmar nationals are currently residing in Tengnoupal, followed by 881 in Chandel, 154 in Churachandpur and five in Kamjong.

The sub-committee, whose members also include state ministers Awangbow Newmai and Thounaojam Basanta, visited the tribal-dominated districts in March and April, during which they met the illegal immigrants, and spoke to them about providing humanitarian relief and shelter.

Before the ethnic violence broke out on May 3, the Manipur government had decided to identify the Myanmar nationals who had earlier sought asylum in the state, and keep them at the designated detention centres.

Chief Minister N. Biren Singh recently said that infiltrators from across the border and militants have caused the ongoing unrest in the state and it is not an enmity between two communities.

An official report said that the identification of such a large number of illegal immigrants in the first phase itself has become a reason for panic among the illegal immigrants settled in the state.

"During the identification drive, it was observed that the illegal Myanmar immigrants had established their own village. It was during this identification exercise when the establishment of such villages was objected to and they were advised that shelter homes will be built by the government for them. The illegal immigrants have raised strong objections to the proposal and it is one of the reasons for the violence that broke out recently," said the report, available with IANS.

The report said that the Manipur government's 'War on Drugs' campaign has badly affected the poppy cultivation and narcotics business run by the Myanmar nationals in the state. Due to this reason, the recent violence in Manipur was fuelled by influential illegal poppy cultivators and drug lords from Myanmar settling in Manipur, it stated.

Various Kuki Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have been alleging that the Manipur government, in the name of trying to identify illegal immigrants, has been harassing Indian citizens. Kukis say they have been living in the hills of Manipur for decades, and even fought against the British in what is now known as the Anglo-Kuki War (1917-1919).

"The BJP government led by Chief Minister N. Biren Singh only wants to brand genuine Indian Kuki tribes as illegal immigrants," Kuki CSOs have alleged on a number of occasions.

The state has been devastated by the ethnic violence between the valley-majority Meitei and the hill-majority Kuki tribe, killing over 150 people and injuring over 600 people of different communities since May 3.