The Manipur government has resumed the process of collecting biometric details of identified illegal immigrants in the state, an official said on Monday. “We have identified around 2,500 illegal immigrants in the state, the majority of whom are currently in the Tengnoupal and Chandel districts, which share a border with Myanmar,” joint secretary (home) Peter Salam said on Monday. “The state government had started the identification process earlier, but it came to a halt after violence broke out in May,” Salam said, adding that “illegal immigrants arrested in Churachandpur district have been kept in the Foreigners Detention Centre and Sajiwa jail in Imphal East district and Imphal jail in Imphal West district. In all, 104 inmates are in the Foreigners Detention Centre, 60 in Sajiwa jail, and 70 in Imphal jail.”
Salam stated that out of the 104 illegal Myanmarese inmates, 74 are male, 24 are women, and six are minors—as of Monday. He mentioned that the process of collecting biometric details is time-consuming due to the language and security-related challenges they encounter.
