A significant number of Myanmar nationals has come to Maring tribe’s areas in Tengnoupal
New Delhi:
Illegal immigrants from war-torn Myanmar have been found building houses in Manipur’s Tengnoupal district without informing the state authorities, officials have said. The illegal settlement was found between pillar number 82 and 89 near the border with Myanmar by volunteers of the Maring tribe, officials said.
Following reports of a significant number of Myanmar nationals pouring into Maring tribe’s areas in Tengnoupal district, the Rilram Area Maring Organisation, or RAMO, sent out volunteers to check their villages near border pillar numbers 82 to 89.
RAMO told the authorities they found a considerable presence of illegal Myanmar settlers building houses and other structures. The areas RAMO volunteers visited were Chanringphai, Choktong, N Satang, and Sangtong villages under Lamlong Khunou circle.
Village chiefs in the area have complained they were no longer able to manage the influx of refugees from Myanmar, the RAMO volunteers said.
A Naga MLA in Manipur had on May 9 written to Chief Minister N Biren Singh alleging the number of “illegal” Myanmar nationals living in shelter homes in eight villages “have outnumbered” locals, leading to insecurity among the locals. Naga People’s Front (NPF) MLA Leishiyo Keishing in the letter alleged “illegal immigrants” have often attacked villagers in Kamjong and Kasom Khullen subdivisions over petty matters. The NPF is a BJP ally in Manipur.
Rilram Area Maring Organisation sent out volunteers to check their villages near border pillar numbers 82 to 89
Several Naga civil bodies and organisations in Manipur last week asked Home Minister Amit Shah to repatriate illegal Myanmar immigrants to their country. After visiting border areas on a fact-finding mission, the United Naga Council (UNC), Naga Women’s Union (NWU), All Naga Students Association Manipur (ANSAM), and Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights (NPM-HR) gave a memorandum to Mr Shah.
Despite the Centre announcing the scrapping of the free-movement regime (FMR) in the Manipur section of the border, the Myanmar nationals have been seen moving back and forth across the border with ease late at night, according to the RAMO volunteers.
The volunteers raised questions whether the forces posted along these border pillar markings have informed the local authorities of this development. Officials said the state government was not aware of this new settlement.
There is broad acknowledgment among officials in the Centre and the state that illegal immigration from Myanmar was a key factor in the unprecedented ethnic violence between the valley-dominant Meitei community and the Chin-Kuki-Zo tribes.
Mr Shah in August 2023 had told Lok Sabha the problem in Manipur started with the influx of Chin-Kuki refugees from neighbouring Myanmar after the military rulers there started a crackdown against insurgents in 2021. The refugees started settling down in Manipur’s jungles, raising fears of a demographic change in the region, Mr Shah had said, adding rumours that refugee settlements have been declared as villages was the final straw.
The Manipur government maintains the state has seen a significant rise in the population of illegal immigrants from war-torn Myanmar, and many have been found building houses and clearing forests, which are symptomatic of a broader, unresolved issue.
The ethnic clashes between the Meitei community and the Kuki tribes began over cataclysmic disagreements on sharing land, resources, affirmative action policies, and political representation, mainly with the ‘general’ category Meiteis seeking to be included under the Scheduled Tribes category. Over 220 have been killed, and more than 50,000 have been internally displaced.
The latest flare-up happened in Jiribam, neighbouring Assam. The Meitei community and the Hmar tribe burned each other’s homes after two people from their communities were found murdered, and both sides blamed the other for it.
A section of the Hmar and Thadou tribes and their leaders, however, have said they do not identify with those who participated in the violence in Jiribam.
The Rongmei Naga tribes, too, had opposed a 24-hour shutdown of National Highway 37 called by Kuki groups in protest against the Jiribam violence. The Rongmei Nagas had said the highway belonged to all communities, and condemned the shutdown call as “unwarranted”.
