The Meetei (Meitei) Tribe Union (MMTU) has strongly criticised both the Central and State governments for what it described as deliberate inaction and negligence over the growing crisis of illegal immigration into Manipur. In a statement issued today, the Union accused the authorities of enabling a systematic demographic invasion by illegal migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh, threatening the existence of the indigenous Meetei people.
MMTU stated that the influx of undocumented migrants has been ongoing for decades, with settlers from Myanmar beginning to arrive in Manipur as early as the 1950s. The organisation pointed to historical instances such as the 1973 arrival of Burmese refugees, insurgent rehabilitation in the 1980s, and the more recent inflow of Chin-Kuki refugees as part of a long-standing pattern of population expansion in tribal-dominated hill districts. According to the Union, these movements have not only gone unchecked but have also been actively facilitated under the guise of humanitarian support.
The Union cited the findings of a cabinet sub-committee formed on February 16, 2023, which identified over 2,480 illegal immigrants in Chandel and Tengnoupal districts. It claimed that these figures only scratch the surface, as illegal settlements continue to expand in sensitive border areas, with new constructions being undertaken without official tenders or legal scrutiny. The MMTU alleged that political leaders, including Members of Parliament, were complicit in these actions by openly advocating for the sheltering of foreigners at the cost of indigenous rights and state security.
MMTU’s youth wing convener, Haobijam Surjit Meetei, raised concerns that the ongoing resettlement of migrants—particularly through the construction of prefabricated houses—was not aimed at rehabilitation but at manipulating voter demographics ahead of future elections. The Union claimed that these settlers were being quietly absorbed into electoral rolls, thereby undermining the voting power of indigenous communities and tilting political advantage toward migrant-backed interests.
The organisation took strong exception to the UN’s observation of World Refugee Day on July 11, stating that honouring foreign migrants as refugees in the Manipur context was misleading and dangerous. It asserted that many of these individuals were not victims of persecution but economic migrants or individuals with political motives, whose unchecked entry into India constituted a threat to national integrity.
Furthermore, MMTU highlighted how illegal immigration had disrupted land ownership patterns, consumed natural resources, and triggered communal unrest in various districts of Manipur. It alleged that migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh had taken advantage of India’s flawed border policies and weak enforcement to obtain Aadhaar cards, voter IDs, and other legal documentation—often through manipulation of census data and administrative loopholes.
The Union claimed that the 2001 and 2011 Censuses revealed abnormal growth rates in certain hill subdivisions, including Tengnoupal, Churachandpur, and Kamjong, which MMTU believes were inflated to facilitate future delimitation in favour of migrant-dominated areas. It also accused past delimitation exercises of carving new constituencies purely on the basis of population figures distorted by illegal settlement patterns.
The Meetei Tribe Union demanded immediate corrective measures, including proper verification of migrant populations, removal of non-citizens from electoral lists, cancellation of illegitimate land titles, and a transparent delimitation process based on verified, indigenous-dominated data. It warned that failure to address these issues would only accelerate the demographic and cultural displacement of the Meetei people, potentially leading to long-term unrest.