The Union Ministry of Home Affairs of India has pushed the governments of Manipur and Mizoram states to collect biometric data of illegal migrants, according to the report in The Hindu, as violence between the majority Meitei and tribal Kuki communities has left more than 130 causalities, and 60,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since violence first broke out in May.

The ministry’s instruction, on 22 June, said that the state governments are to complete the data collection process by the end of September this year because India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol, and that the two state governments have no power to grant “refugee status to any foreigner.”

On 30 June, Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh blamed illegal migrants from Myanmar for the violence in the state.

However, the Himal Southasian reported that Mizoram’s chief minister, Zoramthanga, who is also the chief of the state’s ruling Mizo National Front, deemed the directive from the ministry “not acceptable” to Mizoram.

In his recent letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Zoramthanga said: “I understand that there are certain foreign policy issues where India needs to proceed cautiously. However, we cannot ignore this humanitarian crisis.”

K Vanlalvena, a member of India’s Upper House from Zoramthanga’s party, also said that the refugees from Myanmar are like “family” and can’t be asked to leave when facing such a humanitarian crisis.

Manipur and Mizoram bordering with Myanmar has seen the illegal influx from the eastern neighbour where the military junta is carrying out atrocities against the civilian population.

The Institute of Chin Affairs (ICA) reported that since the February 2021 military coup, more than one hundred Chin ethnic people, including both civilians and members of Chinland Defence Force (CDF), have lost their lives at the hands of the Military Council.

The ICA also called upon the international community to increase its measures to help resolve the current political crisis in Myanmar.

The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) also reported in April that more than 20 percent of the Chin population has fled due to clashes in Myanmar. Some have fled to other regions within the country and others, roughly 30,000 refugees, have fled to India.