Imphal, Aug 22 Former Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Friday appreciated the Assam Rifles for recording biometrics and verifying other details of 42,000 Myanmar nationals who entered India since December last year.
Taking to social media platform X, Singh wrote: “Under the new FMR policy, the Assam Rifles have mapped around 42,000 Myanmar nationals who entered India through various border points since last December.”
“Their entry has been recorded with the help of biometrics and verification measures along the Indo-Myanmar border. This is a positive step towards regulating the entry of foreign nationals, and it will also help in checking the abnormal population growth witnessed in Manipur in recent years,” said Singh, who quit the Chief Ministerial post on February 9, four days before the President’s Rule was imposed in the state due to prolonged ethnic violence.
Meanwhile, the Assam Rifles, in a statement on Thursday, said that during a seminar at Manipur University on Wednesday, Lt Gen Vikas Lakhera, Director General Assam Rifles, shared insights on the new Free Movement Regime (FMR) policy of the government under which the Myanmarese nationals are now being mapped.
"The statement made by the DG Assam Rifles is being misrepresented by certain media outlets. After the new FMR policy came into effect, the Myanmarese nationals entering India through crossing points are now being mapped. Since December (2024), 42,000 individuals have been mapped with the help of biometrics and various measures instituted by all concerned government agencies. The data of this is being shared with all Govt agencies," the Assam Rifles statement said.
These Myanmarese citizens primarily stay temporarily in the Northeastern states of India, mainly in Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh and eventually revert to their country as per the provisions of the new FMR policy.
The Seminar was conducted at Manipur University as part of the academic collaboration between Assam Rifles and the University.
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