Continue steps to detect, deport illegal migrants: Former CM Biren Singh tells Manipur Governor

Guwahati: Former Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday urged Governor Ajay Kumar Bhall to continue the steps taken by his government for detection and deportation of "illegal migrants" from neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh, which according to him, triggered the ongoing conflict.

During his meeting with Bhalla at Imphal on Tuesday evening, Singh said there is a need to strictly carry out verification drive and deport the illegal migrants as per the recent directives of the Union Home Ministry. Singh mentioned about MHA's directive to states for detection and deportation of the "illegal migrants" within 30-days.

Singh said that Manipur witnessed influx due military coup in Myanmar in 1962, 1988 and recently since 2021. "Illegal immigrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh are illegally settled in various parts of the Manipur," he said in a document submitted to Bhalla.

"The repeated political upheavel have made the Indo-Myanmar border porous not only to fleeing civilians but also, in some instances, unregulated activities including narcotics trafficking, arms smuggling and undocumentted settlements. The impact on Manipur has been particularly acute--stretching public resources, disrupting the social fabric and posing a direct threat to indigenous identity and territorial integrity," Singh said in the letter.

Manipur shares 398km unfenced border with Myanmar. The Meiteis have claimed that influx and settlements of the Chin-Kuki migrants was one of the triggers of the ongoing conflict involving the Meiteis and the Kukis since May 2023. More than 250 people have died and over 60,000 got displaced. But Kukis, rejected such claims alleging that Singh created the narartive to target the Kukis.

Singh, who became a target of the Kukis, however, resigned in February as the conflict continued. The centre promulgated President's Rule on February 13 as the ruling BJP could not decide a consensus candidate as Singh's replacement.