The Manipur government has sought a detailed report from the Assam Rifles on how over 718 Myanmar nationals, including 301 children, “were allowed to enter India” without “proper travel documents” in just two days between July 22 and 23.

Manipur ordered Assam Rifles to “push back” the Myanmar nationals who reportedly entered the state due to the ongoing unrest in the neighbouring country.

On July 23, 28 Sector Assam Rifles wrote to the deputy commissioner of Manipur’s Chandel district reporting a “fresh illegal influx” of Myanmar nationals along the Indo-Myanmar border in Chandel. According to the Assam Rifles report, 718 people arrived at six locations in the district over the two days because of ongoing clashes in Khampat in western Myanmar.

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Of these, 301 are children, 208 are women and 209 are men. In the letter, Assam Rifles requested the deputy commissioner to send a representative for “joint verification” of the immigrants.

In response, the Manipur home department sought a detailed report from Assam Rifles to “clarify why and how” the Myanmar nationals “were allowed to enter into India in Chandel District without proper travel documents”.

A statement from the home department read, “In connection with similar issues in the past, the state government had clearly informed Assam Rifles, being a border guarding force, to take strict action to prevent entry of Myanmar nationals into Manipur without valid visa/travel. The state government views the fresh illegal entry of 718 refugees very seriously with utmost sensitivity as the same may have international ramifications, more particularly in view of the ongoing law and order issues.”

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“The Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent or Police or Chandel District have also been advised to oversee the Implementation or the above and also keep biometrics and photographs of all such persons,” the statement added.

There are more than 35,000 refugees from Myanmar in Mizoram, who have been sheltered by the state government there despite instructions by the central government not to do so. The Manipur government, on the other hand, has been trying to implement a drive against “illegal immigrants” and has constituted a Population Commission to identify them, The Indian Express reported.