The North East Students’ Organisation (NESO), an influential body of eight major student unions in the region, has raised alarm over what it describes as the “escalating and unaddressed” issue of illegal migration into the Northeast.
In a letter to Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, NESO warned that unchecked infiltration threatens the socio-cultural fabric, demographic balance, and political stability of the region.
"This is not merely a political or administrative issue— it is a matter of survival for the indigenous communities of the Northeast,” the organisation said.
The student body pointed to Tripura, where the indigenous population, once in the majority, has been reduced to a minority. It also recalled Assam’s six-year-long anti-foreigner agitation, which culminated in the Assam Accord of 1985. NESO said many provisions of that accord remain unimplemented even today.
Highlighting similar fears in Meghalaya, the organisation referred to past agitations in 1979, 1987 and the early 1990s over demographic changes. It said population shifts are now visible beyond Assam, particularly in the plain belt areas of Garo Hills and other vulnerable zones across the region.
NESO alleged that repeated appeals to the central government have drawn inadequate responses, often “limited to temporary measures” rather than long-term solutions.
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Calling the situation an "existential crisis”, the organisation urged the Meghalaya government to take urgent steps, including detection and deportation of illegal migrants, sealing the Indo-Bangladesh border, strengthening surveillance with modern technology, and formation of a special review committee to study population growth in sensitive areas.
The student body also pressed for stronger legal safeguards to protect the indigenous peoples’ rights to land, culture and language. It emphasised the need for inter-state coordination to prevent migrants from relocating within the Northeast after detection.
“The demographic and cultural changes already visible in parts of our region are warnings of an existential crisis. If strong and sustained measures are not taken now, the very identity of the Northeast’s indigenous peoples could be irreversibly altered,” NESO warned.
Despite its sharp criticism, NESO reaffirmed its commitment to working with both the Centre and state governments to find a “concrete and decisive solution” to the migration issue.
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