Raising the pitch on the issue of illegal immigration, Voice of the People Party president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit has criticised the Meghalaya government for the absence of credible data and any systematic assessment of the scale of the problem, drawing a sharp contrast with Assam where successive estimates have been placed before Parliament and the State Assembly indicating a steady rise in the number of undocumented migrants over the years.
Positioning the issue as a critical governance gap, Basaiawmoit pointed out that the availability of such figures in Assam reflects sustained exercises to detect and identify illegal immigrants, whereas no comparable effort has been undertaken in Meghalaya. He underscored that the lack of official estimates weakens policy response and preparedness in addressing a challenge with potential demographic and administrative implications.
“As of now there is no proper record, there is no estimate that the government has come out not like in Assam where in Assam made both in Parliament and in Assembly. The Estimate made by the BJP government in parliament and in the state Assembly of Assam is that there is a consistent rising trend of illegal immigrants in Assam, from 33 lakhs in 1993 to 40 lakhs in 1997, to 50 lakhs in 2001 and to 80 lakhs in 2016. So it shows that the government of Assam has carried out and exersise to detect and to locate these illegal immigrants when they are coming up with the figures. Whereas in the state of Meghalaya there is no such exercise that the Government has carried out,” The VPP Chief said.
Emphasising the need for institutional preparedness, he called for a comprehensive and foolproof mechanism to identify and deport illegal immigrants, while cautioning against their inclusion in official records such as the census. He further linked the issue to regional dynamics, suggesting that enforcement actions in neighbouring Assam could have spillover effects in Meghalaya.
“Simultaneously, the government has to carry out a full proof exercise to detect these illegal immigrants and they should not be included in the census they should be detected and deported. That is what we want,” the Nongkrem legislator added.
Asked about if they are demanding SIR in Meghalaya, he said, “SIR is an exercise to filter those who are not eligible voters but this demand is to ensure that the government prepare mechanism to detect and deport these illegal immigrants. When there was concentration of illegal immigrants in Assam, there will be spill over to Meghalaya in case of eviction drive in the State of Assam.”
