DIMAPUR, May 12 - The Joint Committee on Prevention of Illegal Immigrants (JCPI) has called for a meeting with all the 16 Naga tribe hohos, mass-based organisations and other civil society organisation leaders to further discuss the inner-line permit (ILP)/Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR), 1873, and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill at Tourist Lodge here on May 18.
JCPI convenor K. Ghokheto Chophy and secretary Tia Longchar, in a release on Sunday, said though the committee carried out the job on these issues diligently as mandated by the tribe leaders and responsible organisations for the past almost one year, many issues, some contentious, cropped up in the intervening period for which renewed discussion has become necessary.
The JCPI was formed by tribe hohos, civil society organisations and mass-based organisations on August 8, 2018, after publication of final draft National Register of Citizens in Assam on July 30 last year. The committee was tasked to evolve logistics coordination and assist the state government in formulating standard operating procedure for effective implementation of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BERF) Act, 1873, under which there is provision for ILP.
The committee requested the presidents and the general secretaries of the organisations to attend the May 18 meeting where it would present the progress report on the issues.
The JPCI had submitted a memorandum to the state government last year urging it to extend BEFR 1873 to the entire state and especially Dimapur district.
It contended that so long as Dimapur is out of the purview of the inner-line permit, it will continue to remain as feeder district of illegal immigrants to interior areas of the state.
The committee had also asked the government to create a separate cell or a separate department under home department to competently deal with strict enforcement of BEFRA and Foreigners Act 1946 on a daily basis.
It demanded that the ILP should differentiate between tourists, transit passengers and manual or skilled labourers. It wanted that the ILP should be issued for limited period and the ILP holders should be allowed to do business in the state.
