IMPHAL: Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Friday said that over 10,000 illegal immigrants have been detected in Manipur in the past five years.
The chief minister said in response to a question from MLA Surjakumar Okram in the Assembly during the ongoing budget session.
Singh informed the assembly that the 10,675 illegal immigrants are from Myanmar, Bangladesh, Norway, China, and Nepal.
He said that out of a total of 10,675 illegal immigrants, 85 have been deported in the last five years.
“Around 143 immigrants are in the detention centre. The state government has incurred Rs 85.55 lakh for the maintenance of detainees in the centre,” he said.
The chief minister said that to check the influx, a committee has been constituted to conduct a verification drive for the identification of illegal immigrants in Churachandpur, Chandel, Tengnoupal, Kamjong, and Pherzawl districts.
The committee operates under the supervision of the Manipur Home Department, following a government order issued on March 24 last year.
It mentioned that before the ongoing violence broke out, the committee detected 2,480 illegal Myanmar immigrants.
Further, the central government has announced that the Indo-Myanmar border will be fenced completely. Border fencing work has already started and was given importance, Biren Singh said.
