Now, the Government of India appears to have the prominent narrative that illegal immigrants are problematic in Manipur established.
The issue of illegal immigrants in Manipur is not only about the illegal immigrants after military coup in Myanmar on February 1, 2021. Many civil society organisations of Manipur particularly the United Naga Council (UNC) and the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) have been demanding for detection of illegal immigrants and updation of National Register of Citizenship (NRC) with 1951 as base year, the first census of independent India after Manipur was merged to India on October 15, 1949.
Moreover, a Manipur Pass and Permit system for entry and exit for regulation of immigration was abolished by then Chief Commissioner Himmat Singh in November 1950, after which immigrants started to move into Manipur.
Most recently, India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar stated that part of the problem stemmed from the destabilising impact of migrants in the region. Additionally, he noted historical tensions in Manipur that have contributed to the challenges faced by the state.
Jaishankar addressed the situation in India’s Northeastern State of Manipur during a discussion at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on September 26, where he said that efforts are ongoing to bring a sense of normalcy.
The External Affairs Minister said, “If you ask me, you know, what is happening today in Manipur? I think, one—you know, one part of the problem in Manipur has been the destabilizing impact of migrants who have come. That’s one aspect of it. But there are also tensions which obviously have a long history which precede that. And today, I think the effort is on the part of the state government and the union government to find a way by which, you know, a sense of normalcy returns, that arms which were seized during that period are recovered, that there is an adequate law and order enforcement out there so that incidents of violence don’t happen.”
Notably, Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren during his Independence Day speech in Imphal attributed the violence to a “foreign plot to destabilise the country”.
Earlier in March, as Kukis took to the streets to protest against the State government’s eviction policy, Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren reierated that “illegal immigrants from Myanmar” engaging in “poppy plantations and drug business” were destabilising Manipur.
Recently, Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren raised accusations against immigrants from Myanmar, alleging their involvement in deforestation, poppy cultivation, and drug-related nuisances. Over the past two years, 104 illegal immigrants, including 24 men, 74 women, and 6 minors, have been held in detention centres for illegal activities.
Furthermore, the Manipur government has expressed concern about reports of 700 illegal immigrants entering the state within a few days in July. According to the Home Department’s statement, 718 illegal immigrants, including 301 children, crossed into Manipur’s Chandel district on 22nd and 23rd July, during the period when the violence in Manipur has been raging since May 3, 2023.
While CM Biren has been the focal point of handling a major political crisis in Manipur, the External Affairs Ministry in Delhi and the national security adviser are said to have been particularly concerned about the growing instability in neighbouring Myanmar as the rising Chinese influence in Myanmar will affect the security situation in Manipur because of the long border and the ethnic similarities.
Notably, on August 9, 2023 Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during a discussion on a no-confidence motion in Parliament, offered an explanation of the ongoing violent conflict between Kuki-Zomi militants and Meiteis in Manipur. He said the violence was triggered by an influx of Kukis from Myanmar into Manipur, which “created insecurities among Meiteis”.
This was the first time Amit Shah had named a particular community for the crisis in Manipur.
“A Kuki Democratic Front started a movement there, and the military rulers launched a crackdown on them. As there is no border fencing, a large number of Kuki brothers came to Manipur and Mizoram as refugees,” Shah told Parliament. He was referring to the armed resistance against the junta in Myanmar and the attendant refugee movement across the India-Myanmar border.
However, Shah’s speech in Parliament drew a sharp reaction from Manipur’s 10 Kuki MLAs, including eight from his own party because no group by the name “Kuki Democratic Front” exists in Myanmar.
Very significantly, prior to the eruption of violent conflict between the Kuki-Zomi militants and the Meiteis on May 3 in Churachandpur and its bordering areas of Bishnupur district, Manipur Governor Sushri Anusuiya Uikey on her maiden visit to Moreh, Manipur’s town at the Indo-Myanmar border on April 25 said that lack of regulation and proper documentation of illegal immigrants is a cause of great concern.
Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey said, “The humanitarian crisis created by the situation in Myanmar is well-known and we as a democratic country that believes in human rights have certain obligations. The lack of regulation and proper documentation of the illegal immigrants is a cause of great concern.”
Anusuiya Uikey stated that taking the matter of influx of foreign immigrants seriously, the state government has constituted a high-powered Cabinet Sub-Committee headed by tribal affairs and hills minister Letpao Haokip. Such steps of the government will assuage the apprehension of the indigenous population who have valid reasons for concern of influx of illegal immigrants.
The Governor continued that the district administration has started identification and verification of illegal immigrants found settling in the border villages of the district. She appealed to all stakeholders, including CSOs, to extend co-operation to the government in identifying illegal immigrants in the district.
Furthermore, Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey on July 13 during a visit to a relief camp at Naorem Birahari College Khundrakpam in Imphal East said some inimical elements could have infiltrated from across the border to fuel the current unrest in the state. However, security forces are taking action to eliminate any such threat, she added.
A Raj Bhavan release added that the governor’s statement was based on intelligence inputs.
It may be mentioned that External Affairs Minister Jaishankar on July 16 met his counterpart from the Myanmar junta, U Than Swe, on the sidelines of the Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) meeting in Bangkok. There, he noted how peace and stability along the India-Myanmar border “have been seriously disturbed recently”.
But he also mentioned the need to “expedite” the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway and proposed “people-centric initiatives” in Myanmar. The trilateral highway project, envisioned years ago, has now become a flagship of India’s eastward connectivity push alongside the Kaladan project. But here’s the thing—the proposed highway enters Myanmar at Moreh, the otherwise bustling entrepôt in Manipur’s Tengnoupal district that has now become a tense flashpoint for ethnic conflict.
Moreover, the United Naga Council (UNC) and the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) in a joint statement on July 22, 2022 said that the existence of indigenous people of Manipur is under threat and badly affected by the demographic imbalance caused due to continuous influx of illegal immigrants.
They submitted a memorandum to Manipur Chief Minister on June 4, 2022 urging the government to take up immediate and stringent necessary steps for stopping the demographic imbalance in Manipur. The copies of the same memorandum were also forwarded to the Prime Minister and the Union home minister on June 10, 2022.
The COCOMI and UNC demanded Update of NRC to identify illegal immigrants and deporting them to their respective countries or initiating a specific policy for illegal immigrants without affecting interests of indigenous peoples of the land; Establishment of Manipur State Population Commission at the earliest so that the commission could provide valuable recommendation to the government on NRC update after collecting proper information on the issue.
The joint statement further said that socio-political, economy and culture of indigenous peoples of Manipur are being badly affected by the demographic imbalance while illegal immigrants are detrimental to protection of indigenous people’s identity and right of land ownership.
In a recent letter to the European Union, Jeetendra Ningomba, Coordinator of COCOMI, blamed “narco-terrorist activities… primarily operated and managed by the armed (illegal) immigrants and their drug cartel syndicates in India from Myanmar belonging to Chin-Kuki tribes who are Christian”. Even Naga civil society groups, such as the Tangkhul Naga Aze Longphang (TNALP), have argued that “illegal immigrants” and “narco-terrorists” from Myanmar are the “root cause behind the conflict”.
Senior Editor: Imphal Review of Arts and Politics
