A number of political outfits in states neighbouring Assam
 have stepped up patrolling to ensure “doubtful citizens” excluded from the National Register of Citizens do not enter their regions, The Hindu reported on Tuesday.

On Monday, the Khasi Students’ Union verified the papers of 26 non-tribal people at an industrial estate in Meghalaya’s West Khasi Hills district after finding them working in some factories.

“Some of the workers said they were in the NRC but did not carry the documents,” said KSU leader Wanbhakupar L Nonglait. “The managers of the mills have assured us that the non-tribal people will be sent back to Assam and allowed to work only if they produce proof of their inclusion.”

The union also found four more non-tribal people from Assam without NRC documents working at a technical school in Nongstoin, which is the district headquarters.

The Federation of Khasi Jaintia Garo People and the Hynniewtrep Youth Council are also on the look out for “NRC-excluded” people from Assam. “The left-outs of Assam will never go back to Bangladesh,” said the federation’s President Wellbirth Rani. “They will enter the neighbouring states and Meghalaya could be a haven for them. Besides asking our local units to be vigilant, we will be coordinating with the police to check illegal migrants.”

The Naga Students Federation has also expressed apprehensions about people left out of the NRC moving to the state, reported The Telegraph. The organisation criticised the implementation of the inner-line permit regime in Dimapur, which is the state’s largest city. This has caused the district an attractive destination for undocumented migrants, the federation alleged.

Its President Ninoto Awomi and General Secretary Liremo Kikon said the influx of people from outside the state and undocumented immigrants was expected to increase sharply in the coming days. They added that the exodus of people excluded from the NRC was the biggest demographic threat to the state’s indigenous inhabitants.

The Central Nagaland Tribes Council also expressed similar concerns. It urged the state government to take preventive measures to stop the entry of undocumented immigrants from Assam, and asked village chiefs and chairmen of village and colony councils to remain alert.

Security has also been beefed up across Mizoram, and police stations and border outposts along the border with Assam were alerted after the publication of the citizens’ register, said an unidentified police official in state capital Aizawl.

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