The North East Students’ Organisation (NESO), the umbrella body of eight major student unions from across the region, has written to Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma raising alarm over what it describes as the “escalating and unaddressed” issue of illegal migration into the North East.
In its letter, NESO warned that unchecked infiltration threatens to destabilise the socio-cultural fabric, demographic balance and political future of indigenous communities.
“This is not merely a political or administrative issue—it is a matter of survival for the indigenous communities of the North East,” the organisation said.
The body drew parallels with Tripura, where large-scale migration from erstwhile East Pakistan turned the indigenous majority into a minority in their own land.
NESO said Assam too offers a telling example, recalling the six-year-long anti-foreigner agitation that culminated in the Assam Accord of 1985.
It alleged that the provisions of the Accord, particularly those dealing with detection and deportation of foreigners, have not been properly implemented even after decades, leaving the state and the wider region vulnerable to similar upheavals.
NESO also pointed to Meghalaya’s own history of unrest linked to demographic anxieties, recalling the agitations of 1979, 1987 and the early 1990s. It warned that similar concerns are resurfacing in the present day, particularly in the plain belt of Garo Hills and other sensitive areas where demographic changes are becoming increasingly visible.
The student body expressed frustration that despite repeated appeals, the Centre’s responses have remained “largely limited to temporary measures.” It called for urgent steps from the state government, including stronger vigilance along the Indo-Bangladesh border, tighter surveillance in vulnerable pockets, and the setting up of a special review committee to study population growth patterns in sensitive areas. NESO also emphasised the need for better inter-state coordination to prevent migrants from shifting within the North East and sought legal safeguards to protect the land, culture and language of indigenous communities.
“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 North East’s indigenous peoples could be irreversibly altered,” the organisation said.
Illegal migration has long been at the centre of politics in the North East. While successive governments have promised to address it through measures like the Assam Accord, border fencing and more recently the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, implementation has often fallen short. NESO has consistently opposed the CAA, arguing that it legitimises categories of migrants instead of addressing the core problem.
By writing directly to Conrad Sangma, NESO has signalled a renewed urgency and placed the responsibility on the Meghalaya government to act decisively. At the same time, it reiterated its commitment to work with both state governments and the Centre in search of what it termed a “concrete and decisive solution.”