NRC fallout: Quit Arunachal notice to ‘illegal migrants’

August 02, 2018 03:02 pm | Updated 03:02 pm IST - GUWAHATI

An influential students’ body in Arunachal Pradesh has followed its counterparts in Meghalaya and Nagaland in imposing restrictions on the entry of “people likely to be made non-citizens” after the exercise to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam is over.

Suspecting some people excluded from the NRC complete draft published on July 30 might have sneaked in, the influential All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) on Wednesday set a 15-day deadline for ‘illegal migrants’ to quit the Frontier State.

The union has also asked house owners to check the credentials of non-tribal people before letting their premises out. Contractors and traders have also been told not to employ people of suspect nationality and not interfere when the union members verify documents of non-locals.

“We had on July 22 weighed the possibility of illegal migrants sneaking into the State. Accordingly, we have asked people without ILP to return to where they have come from within a fortnight after which we will launch operation clean drive,” AAPSU general secretary Tobom Dai said.

ILP expands to inner-line permit, a limited-stay travel document a person from across India must possess for visiting Arunachal Pradesh. The ILP, also applicable in Mizoram and Nagaland, is issued under the British-era Bengal Eastern Regulation Act of 1873.

Members of AAPSU’s committee formed to drive out illegal migrants also visited entry gates along the 804 km Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border. “We found touts on the Assam side trying to provide fake ILPs to about 400 people,” AAPSU leader Tatung Taga said.

The AAPSU has appealed to the Pema Khandu government to tighten security at check gates along the border as well as twin cities Itanagar and Naharlagun to “ensure that the locals are safe from infiltrators.”

The students’ body indicated it might ask people from Assam to show ‘NRC-included’ proof before being let into Arunachal Pradesh.

Advisories

Apart from students’ and social organisations, the governments in the hill states adjoining Assam have alerted their citizens over the possible increase in influx after Assam’s NRC draft.

Nagaland’s Home department has issued advisories asking all village, town and municipal authorities to strictly monitor the influx of people from outside the State in violation of the existing rules and norms.

“Any unusual influx of outsiders should be promptly brought to the knowledge of the district administration and police. The antecedents of any new incoming tenants should be properly checked and verified by the district administration and police. All entry points/check gates manned by the police should be strengthened to thwart any influx of illegal immigrants and mobile patrolling in vulnerable locations should be activated in the respective jurisdictions. The ILP regulations should be strengthened with effective monitoring and checking from time to time,” the department’s advisory said.

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