Manipur groups want NRC to wipe out Myanmar refugees
Myanmar refugees fleeing the military regime are finding new homes in Manipur, but some ethnic groups are afraid of cultural and demographic changes.
John and his wife Mary are not in India in official documents, but are recognized by the Kuki tribe in Manipur. From time to time, the locals gently correct his pronunciation. For untrained supervisors, there is no distinction between husband and wife, and other members of the Pahari community.
A year ago, the family fled to Junta, Myanmar, in search of a safe port among the Kuki tribes who share similar ethnic roots. But not everyone in the state is ready to welcome him.
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About 65 km from the Chula Churachandpur district, where John and Mary live with their children, two influential civil society groups in Manipur gathered on June 5 to discover a common enemy. “Eating” state resources.
They claim that many refugees have slipped through the Manipur border and joined the Kuki tribe. They want Prime Minister N. Biren Singh will perform similar exercises in the state as Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC) to expel refugees.
“We have seen a large influx of population from Myanmar and they have already settled. They are occupying the land of the hills.
This illegal immigration is a serious cultural and economic threat to the future of the people of Manipur, “said Khuraijam Athuba, executive member of the Manipur Integrity Coordination Board (COCOMI), a group of civil society organizations. increase.
There are no refugee camps in Manipur and no data on how many people have fled the state since the coup in Myanmar. State officials believe there is no illegal influx of immigrants, but the group says it is not.
Together with the Unified Naga Council (UNC), a group representing the Naga tribes in the state, Kokomi submitted a memorandum of their request to the CM.
However, before they petitioned the CM, the Narendra Modi government had taken retroactive steps to stop the flow of refugees from Myanmar.
In February 2021, when the military government overthrew the elected government of a neighboring country, the Ministry of Interior of India sent letters to Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Actions to prevent refugees from invading India.
Mizoram openly disobeyed the center’s orders and provided shelter and food to refugees, but Manipur was lined up. It’s easy to say because the porous border allows free movement of up to 16 km on both sides of both countries.
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Common ethnic tribes with trade and family ties on either side of the border make people more difficult to move.
Escape to India
Mary and John don’t hide where they came from, but that may change quickly as anti-refugee sentiment grows. “In Manipur, people are useful.
When they ask us where we are from, we talk to them. The language we speak is the same, but some words are different, “says Mary. She munches on sunflower seeds as she watches the sun set behind a distant hill. John agrees, resting on his laptop.
His peaceful country life is far from the violence in his hometown of Chin, Myanmar. Whenever Olivia, the 19-year-old daughter of her couple, protested the military coup, Mary hung a tag on her neck with her name, address, pedigree, and contact number.
“If she gets injured or killed, she can let people around her know us. We were ready for anything,” says Mary.
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Interact with the locals
The ethnic roots of the Churachandpur Hill community are the same as those of families migrating from Sagaing and Chin provinces in Myanmar. In Chula Chandpool, locals rented out homes and small lands to enroll their children in local schools.
Senior police officers in Chula Chandpool admitted that it was “very difficult” for authorities to distinguish between refugees and locals. “The village mayor writes to the refugees saying they are residents of the village. Based on this, they get a certificate of residence.
All you need to get an Aadhaar card is a residence certificate, phone number and referrer. Once all these documents are available, it’s difficult to keep track of them, “officials said on condition of anonymity. However, this does not prevent police from pursuing and attempting to imprison refugees under the Foreigners Act of 1946, as directed by the Center.
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Manipur groups want NRC to wipe out Myanmar refugees
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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News East India staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
