Imphal/Aizawl, Nov 22 (IANS) Former Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said that all Northeastern states, including Nagaland and Mizoram, have finally realised the gravity of the illegal immigrants issue and have taken strict action, despite strong criticism earlier from leaders of neighbouring states.
Referring to the biometric recording of Myanmar refugees taking shelter in neighbouring Mizoram, Biren Singh in a post on his X handle said that Manipur cannot afford to lose focus on the illegal immigrants issue.
“When we began identifying illegal immigrants and refugees from the neighbouring country (Myanmar) during the NDA government under my leadership, there was strong criticism from leaders of nearby states. But today, every neighbouring state, including Nagaland and Mizoram, has finally realised the gravity of the situation and has taken up strict action,” the former Manipur Chief Minister said.
Referring to a media report, he said that Mizoram is moving at an impressive pace in identifying illegal immigrants.
“Yet Manipur, the state that first took responsibility, has gone quiet on this burning issue in the name of ‘ethnic violence’,” Singh said.
He said that this shift in focus is not an accident.
“Certain powerful groups are deliberately trying to divert attention away from the core problem of illegal immigrants so that state and central authorities get trapped in secondary issues and forget the primary threat facing Manipur,” the ex-CM stated.
He urged the state (Manipur) government and the Central government to stay firm against the illegal immigrants.
“Continue the detection and deportation of illegal immigrants and refugees to their original countries,” Singh emphasised.
He said that Mizoram has already completed around 58 per cent biometric verification.
“How much has Manipur done till now? The public deserves this answer. We must not allow anti-national and anti-state elements to distract us. The safety, stability and future of Manipur depend on keeping our attention firmly on the core issue that started this entire crisis,” Singh said.
After a military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, refugees, including women and children from the neighbouring country, started coming to Mizoram and Manipur seeking shelter, and now their numbers have increased to around 31,300 in Mizoram and several thousand in Manipur.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had earlier asked both the Manipur and Mizoram governments to capture biographic and biometric details of “illegal migrants” in the two states and complete the process at the earliest.
After the MHA’s advice, the Manipur government last year (2024) started the process of recording biographic and biometric details of Myanmar nationals (refugees), while the Serchhip district administration in central Mizoram first launched the biometric enrolment drive for the refugees on July 30 this year (2025), and subsequently, 10 other districts in Mizoram commenced the enrolment process.
Besides the Myanmar refugees, around 3,000 migrants from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of southeastern Bangladesh have taken shelter in three districts – Lawngtlai, Lunglei and Serchhip – of Mizoram over the past two years.
A Mizoram Home Department official said that the state government has completed the biometric enrolment of 58.25 per cent of the around 31,300 Myanmar refugees.
The Mizoram district authorities have also collected the biometric and biographic data of around 11 per cent of the refugees from Bangladesh.
–IANS
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