Imphal: Assam Rifles, in close coordination with the civil administration and Manipur Police, on Tuesday launched a joint identification, verification and biometric registration drive for displaced Myanmar nationals in Manipur’s border district of Kamjong, officials said.
Defence spokesman Lt Col Mahendra Rawat said the initiative marks a significant step towards strengthening border governance and management while ensuring regulated humanitarian assistance to displaced Myanmar nationals. Kamjong district in eastern Manipur shares an unfenced international border with Myanmar.
Lt Col Rawat said the extensive documentation exercise was carried out across Phaikoh, Shangkhalok and Aloyo villages in Kamjong district, where displaced Myanmar nationals fleeing the ongoing unrest in the neighbouring country have been taking temporary shelter.
Operating under the directives of the district administration, a joint team comprising 40 civil officials, police personnel, medical staff and Assam Rifles personnel meticulously verified identities, enrolled biometric data and documented the demographic profiles of the displaced people.
“This exercise successfully covered approximately 500 individuals across the three target locations, establishing an authenticated and centralised database for administrative planning and security tracking,” the spokesman said.
According to the official, the verification drive constitutes Phase II of Operation Anchor, a structured civil-military initiative aimed at balancing national security imperatives with regulated humanitarian oversight along the sensitive India-Myanmar Border (IMB).
The current initiative builds directly upon the achievements of Phase I, which focused primarily on strengthening physical border security through enhanced electronic surveillance, intensified patrolling and targeted fencing to curb illegal cross-border movement and unregulated infiltration.
With the transition to Phase II, the operational focus has expanded from border protection to ensuring accountability within the interior corridor by maintaining comprehensive records of individuals permitted temporary refuge, Lt Col Rawat said.
He said the creation of a secure biometric database would eliminate anonymity, assist the civil administration in delivering medical and humanitarian assistance transparently, and provide both the Union and state governments with reliable records for informed policy decisions on border governance and internal security.
Meanwhile, the Manipur government had earlier carried out biometric enrolment of displaced Myanmar nationals in several districts of the state.
In neighbouring Mizoram, authorities have so far completed the biometric enrolment of more than 98 per cent of the around 28,355 Myanmar nationals, including women and children, who have taken shelter across the state’s 11 districts in different phases following the military coup in the neighbouring country in February 2021.
Acting on the advice of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the biometric enrolment process for both Myanmar and Bangladeshi refugees has been underway in Mizoram since July 2025 through the Foreigners Identification Portal and the Biometric Enrolment System.
(IANS)
