Imphal protest: NESO seeks safeguards against illegal immigration

A protest was staged in Imphal, on August 18, against the issue of illegal immigrants in the North East states, with demonstrators demanding their early detection and deportation, along with constitutional safeguards for the region’s indigenous communities.
 

The protest was organised by the North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) in association with the All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU).

Addressing the media on the sidelines of the protest, NESO Assistant General Secretary W. Sanatomba said the primary aim was to urge both the Manipur and Central governments to address the issue of illegal immigrants effectively by detecting and deporting them at the earliest. He claimed that the influx of immigrants has caused suffering in the state in terms of democratic imbalance and political instability.

Citing examples, Sanatomba noted that the Tripuri community has become a minority in their own state, Tripura, while Assam is also facing the burden of large-scale illegal immigration. He added that Manipur, too, is enduring severe impacts from migrants coming from Myanmar and Bangladesh, and argued that the genesis of the ongoing conflict in Manipur is linked to this issue.

To address the challenges posed by illegal immigration, he urged authorities to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and demanded that the Government of India provide constitutional safeguards to the indigenous people of the Northeast.

He further stated that delimitation in Manipur should be carried out only after the execution of the NRC. On the Manipur crisis, he appealed to the Centre to resolve it at the earliest through a holistic approach.