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Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur issue alerts amid Assam eviction drive
Hundreds of people have fled ahead of a proposed eviction drive on Friday at Uriamghat in Assam’s Golaghat district, bordering Nagaland
Nagaland, Meghalaya, and Manipur have issued alerts amid an eviction drive against alleged undocumented immigrants in Assam, flagging the possibility of the displaced people crossing into the three northeastern states.
The Assam government has said it has freed thousands of acres of land and forests from encroachers in Goalpara alone. On Monday, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited Darrang, where the drive started in September 2021, and said his government is determined to remove “illegal settlers and suspected Bangladeshis” from encroached land.
Hundreds have fled ahead of a proposed eviction drive on Friday at Uriamghat in the Golaghat district, bordering Nagaland. Undocumented immigrants are alleged to have encroached on forest land and cultivated betel in Uriamghat.
This week, over 200 vehicles carrying alleged undocumented immigrants were intercepted while trying to enter Nagaland from Assam and sent back.
Dimapur (Nagaland) police commissioner Kevithuto Sophie said the authorities were taking all preventive measures at all the interstate check posts and vulnerable inlets in the border areas.
Nagaland’s Dimapur, Niuland, Chümoukedima, Peren, Wokha, Mokokchung, Mon, and Longleng districts share borders with Assam.
On Monday, Nagaland issued an alert citing the eviction drive in Assam. All deputy commissioners were directed to heighten vigilance and take proactive measures to prevent any potential influx of alleged undocumented immigrants, to maintain law and order, and safeguard the state’s “demographic integrity”.
Sophie referred to the porous border between the two states and said intensive checking was being carried out. He added that mobile vehicle check posts have been set up at vulnerable locations.
In Meghalaya, additional chief secretary Shakeel P Ahamed also issued a directive to top district officials on Wednesday, asking them to maintain heightened vigilance and take urgent measures to prevent any influx from Assam.
Ahamed cited the “ongoing push back of foreigners” in Assam and the need to prevent their possible entry into Meghalaya. He added that the officials have been instructed to remain alert and take necessary steps to check such movement and ensure law and order is maintained.
Manipur issued a similar advisory on Wednesday, instructing district authorities to maintain vigil along inter-state and international borders, even as the state does not share a border with Assam. Sarma has said people from Manipur tried to settle illegally in Assam, and that they were sent back.
The advisory in Manipur, which shares an international border with violence-hit Myanmar, cited apprehension of “an influx of illegal migrants” into the state, especially due to the turmoil situation in neighbouring countries.
The Manipur government asked all deputy commissioners and police superintendents to “keep a robust mechanism to prevent anyone from crossing into state boundaries illegally” and to “maintain utmost vigil at international, inter-state and inter-district boundaries to prevent any such movement.”
The advisory stressed the importance of quick and proper identification. “Any such movement, if detected, should be immediately reported and biographic and biometric details of such persons should be captured mandatorily,” it said.
Officials have been instructed to ensure that alleged undocumented migrants are placed in secured and designated shelters. “They must be provided humanitarian support without allowing them to get mixed up or naturalised with the local populace,” the advisory said. “All such illegal migrants shall be deported after following due procedures.”
