Why refugee influx from Myanmar is a growing concern in Manipur, Mizoram

The Centre has called for recording biometric data of people entering into India from Myanmar, India Today reported Thursday (27 July) citing government sources. Several northeastern states, including Manipur and Mizoram, share a border with Myanmar where thousands have been forced to flee following the 2021 military coup. These migrants from Myanmar have sought refuge in Manipur and Mizoram, but there has been a drastic difference in the stance of the respective state governments towards these refugees. Why does Manipur want to repatriate immigrants from Myanmar? How has Mizoram been treating the refugees? Let’s take a closer look. ‘Collect biometric data’ As per IndiaTodayNE, these illegal migrants from Myanmar, who entered Manipur and Mizoram, will be placed on a “negative biometric list” in order to prevent them from acquiring India’s citizenship in the future. Economic Times (ET) reported on 11 July that the Central government had asked Manipur and Mizoram to collect the biometric details of illegal immigrants by September end of this year. An earlier letter from the Indian government’s under-secretary, Pratap Singh Rawat, to the chief secretaries of Manipur and Mizoram stated, ”It is further mentioned that a campaign for capturing of biometric data of the illegal migrants in the states of Manipur and Mizoram is to be completed by the end of September, 2023. The state governments of Manipur and Mizoram are requested to quickly prepare the plan and initiate the biometric capture of the illegal migrants". Moreover, efforts are underway to complete fencing around the Indo-Myanmar border, especially in Manipur and Mizoram regions, India TodayNE reported. According to The Hindu, India and Myanmar share a 1,643-km-long, unfenced border that passes via Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Nagaland (215 km), Manipur (398 km) and Mizoram (510 km). Manipur wants to drive out ‘illegal immigrants’ On Tuesday (26 July), the Manipur government asked the Assam Rifles to send back 718 refugees who entered the state from Myanmar on 22 and 23 July, reported The Hindu. Around 208 women, 209 men and 301 children came to Manipur’s Chandel district due to clashes in Khampat in western Myanmar. None of them were armed, as per reports. Assam Rifles had flagged the presence of the migrants to the Chandel district administration. Responding to the development, the Manipur home department sought a detailed report from Assam Rifles to “clarify why and how” the Myanmar nationals “were allowed to enter into India in Chandel District without proper travel documents”, reported Indian Express.  “This is nothing new. Every time there are skirmishes along border areas on their side, these villagers from Myanmar cross over in hundreds. We do due diligence and accounting of each is done in a systematic manner. Biometrics are also taken and after the situation cools down, they again cross over,” a senior government official told NDTV. Manipur has been witnessing ethnic clashes between the majority Meiteis and the tribal Kuki-Zo community since 3 May. Some quarters, including chief minister N Biren Singh , have blamed “illegal migrants” for the ongoing violence in Manipur. [caption id=“attachment_12928572” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Some quarters, including chief minister N Biren Singh have blamed “illegal migrants” for the ongoing violence in Manipur. PTI File Photo[/caption] Singh, who belongs to the dominant Meitei community, has also blamed “infiltrators” from Myanmar for deforestation, poppy cultivation, and drug trafficking in the state, reported Times of India (TOI).  Around 4,000 refugees from Myanmar are believed to have entered Manipur fleeing the oppressive junta rule in 2021, reported The Hindu. The Chins from Myanmar have deep ethnic bonds with Mizoram’s Mizos and Manipur’s Kukis. The Chin-Kuki-Mizo tribes come under the larger “Zo” ethnic umbrella.

Chief Minister Singh’s accusations of Kukis in Manipur’s Churachandpur district sheltering immigrants from Myanmar had sowed discord among the state’s Kuki community before the violence out in May, reported the Indian Express newspaper. The Manipur government has been trying to carry out a drive against “illegal immigrants” and has even set up Population Commission to identify them, the newspaper added. ALSO READ: Why Mizoram is so concerned by the violence in Manipur Mizoram welcomes refugees Mizoram has seen an influx of refugees not just from Myanmar, but also from Bangladesh and Manipur. As per The Hindu’s report last month, more than 900 Kuki-Chin people from Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh have entered Mizoram following operations by Bangladesh Army in the area against Kuki Chin National Front (KCNF).

Manipur’s Kuki-Zo people have entered neighbouring Mizoram due to the ethnic clashes in their state.

Amid the influx of refugees, Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga has written at least three letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi between May and June seeking financial aid from the Centre, reported ThePrint.  In his latest letter, Zoramthanga said Mizoram is staring at a “larger humanitarian crisis” and sought Modi’s “personal intervention” to support the relief measures for sheltering those fleeing political and ethnic unrest in Manipur, Myanmar and Bangladesh, as per ThePrint. [caption id=“attachment_12928592” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A village in Mizoram’s Champhai district near the India-Myanmar border. Reuters File Photo[/caption] “It has become extremely difficult and untenable for the government of Mizoram to single-handedly look after the thousands of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and a larger humanitarian crisis looms ahead unless the Government of India steps forward and shares the burden,” the Mizoram chief minister told the prime minister. According to Zoramthanga, Mizoram has 35,000 refugees from Myanmar, more than 12,300 IDPs from Manipur, and over 1,000 Kuki-Chin refugees from Bangladesh. Mizoram deputy chief minister Tawnluia told ThePrint this week that the state government has “not received any help from the Centre so far”. Mizoram home minister Lalchamliana had told Indian Express in June that in spite of assistance from the local population and the Church, the state was “under a lot of pressure” and facing a “financial crunch”. Mizoram also recently concluded almost a month-long fundraising drive among state and central government employees, MLAs, MPs, and civic councillors, ThePrint reported. However, the influx of refugees in recent years has raised security concerns in Mizoram. As per The Hindu, the smuggling of narcotics along the India-Myanmar Border (IMB) has seen year-on-year growth. In Mizoram, contraband and narcotics worth Rs 603.43 crore were seized till June this year, a jump from Rs 355 crore in 2022. Deputy chief minister Tawnluia told ThePrint that Mizoram has not seen “cross-border movement” recently. With inputs from agencies