India to collect biometrics of Myanmar immigrants

The Indian government has initiated a process to collect biometrics from individuals entering the country from Myanmar, reports suggest. Immigrants will be placed on a ‘negative biometric list’ to prevent them from obtaining Indian citizenship in the future. The process began in April and has garnered attention from the National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar.

This move comes in response to the recent influx of over 700 Myanmar nationals who entered Manipur on July 22 and 23. The Manipur government has sought a report from Assam Rifles to investigate how these individuals entered India without proper documentation. Additionally, there are ongoing projects to complete the fencing along the Indo-Myanmar border, with 10 km of the Manipur-Mizoram border already fenced. Authorities involved in the projects have been directed to expedite the border fencing.

The NUG of Myanmar, a shadow civilian government comprising democratically elected lawmakers from different political parties, has dismissed allegations of “illegal Myanmar migrants” being involved in the Manipur violence as baseless.

The NUG of Myanmar has urged its refugees in India to refrain from interfering in the host country’s internal affairs, as part of an effort to maintain distance from politics and domestic matters.

The refugees in Manipur are currently undergoing a registration process with India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, according to an official from the NUG’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Read also: NUG dismisses role of Burmese migrants’ in Manipur crisis as “baseless”