Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh said on Wednesday evening that 5,457 illegal immigrants had been detected in the strife-hit state and the biometrics of 5,173 have been collected and their deportation process is underway.

Influx is an important issue in Manipur and demand for detection and deportation of illegal immigrants was growing even before the ongoing conflict erupted on May 3 last year.

Singh had said in a post on X on Wednesday that the illegal immigrants were identified in Kamjong district, as of May 7, but he updated his post at 7.22 pm, saying they were “DETECTED IN MANIPUR, INDIA” in capital letters. He did not name their country/countries they belonged to.

Meitei-majority Imphal Valley organisations and Meitei MLAs believe illegal immigrants from Myanmar along with Kuki-Zo rebel outfits under suspension of operations (SoO) agreement with the Centre are fuelling the ongoing unrest that has left at least 227 dead and over 67,000 displaced.

These organisations and Singh are in favour of the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to check influx. The Kuki-Zos of Manipur and the Chin people of Myanmar share the same ancestry.

Besides Myanmar, Chin people from Bangladesh have also entered Mizoram, which is giving shelter to around 35,000 refugees from Myanmar.

Most of the illegal immigrants are said to be from Myanmar.