Former Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Sunday emphasised the need to deploy adequate police and security personnel along the inter-state border with Mizoram to prevent the influx of illegal immigrants from Myanmar.
Manipur’s Churachandpur and Pherzawl districts share around 95 km of the inter-state border with neighbouring Mizoram. Both Manipur and Mizoram share 398 km and 510 km of unfenced borders, respectively, with Myanmar, which are prone to illegal infiltration, cross-border movement, and rampant smuggling.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a programme, the former Chief Minister said that the majority of refugees currently sheltered in Mizoram had fled there following the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021.
“Manipur’s case is different as the influx from Myanmar has been continuing for a long time. Strict security measures must be put in place along the Manipur-Mizoram inter-state border to prevent any fresh relocation of Myanmarese refugees from Mizoram to Manipur,” Singh said.
His remarks came in the wake of the Mizo Students’ Union urging the Mizoram government to immediately abolish villages allegedly established illegally by immigrants from Myanmar. Nearly 31,300 Myanmar refugees are currently sheltered in designated camps, as well as in relatives’ and rented houses across all 11 districts of Mizoram.
“If the Mizoram government eliminates the illegal villages occupied by the Myanmarese, what will happen next? Since Manipur shares a border with Mizoram, who will check and stop the influx of illegal immigrants driven out of Mizoram?” the former Chief Minister asked.
Singh further stated that state police personnel comprising Nagas, Meiteis, and Kukis must be deployed along the Mizoram-Manipur border to prevent infiltration. He also said that he would soon request Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla to deploy state forces along the border with Mizoram to prevent any influx of illegal immigrants.
“I want the entire Manipur to unite on issues related to illegal immigrants and drugs,” Singh said.
Before resigning from the Chief Minister’s post on February 9, Singh had been vocal against illegal influx from Myanmar.
He had on several occasions stated that migrants from Myanmar are largely involved in illegal poppy cultivation in government and reserve forest lands and in large-scale drug smuggling from across the border.
