Mizoram begins biometric enrolment of 34,000 refugees from Myanmar, Bangladesh

The biometric enrolment of over 34,000 people from Myanmar and Bangladesh, who took refuge in Mizoram, is underway, officials said on Thursday.

The Serchhip and Lunglei administrations began the enrolment drive in their respective districts on Wednesday, while east Mizoram's Champhai district authorities started the collection of biometric and demographic details of Myanmar refugees on Thursday, they said.

Serchhip district's Nodal Officer for Foreigners Identification Portal and Biometric Enrolment, Vanthangpuia told PTI that biometric enrolment was conducted for Myanmar refugees who took shelter in Chanmari locality in Serchhip town.

Sixteen people were enrolled in the Foreigner Identification Portal during the exercise held at Chanmari village council house on Wednesday, he said.

The enrolment drive will resume on August 4 and is scheduled to be completed by September 22 within the Serchhip district, the official said.

The exercise will be carried out twice a week, and those who are out of station due to important work or students who studied in other places will be enrolled in separate phases, he said.

The refugees need not panic as the enrolment is meant solely for identification and not for the purpose of deportation, the official said.

According to Vanthangpuia, Serchhip currently hosts 647 Myanmarese nationals, including 299 children, across 30 villages and localities.

Besides, 266 Bangladeshis, including 47 children, also took shelter in Thenzawl town in Serchhip district, he said.

Most refugees stay in rented houses, he said.

Lunglei District Additional Deputy Commissioner Zoramdini said that the local administration also began the collection of biometric and demographic details of 1,991 Myanmarese and 73 Bangladeshi refugees taking shelter in the southern district of Mizoram.

The drive was carried out at a relief camp on Wednesday, during which 10 refugees were enrolled, she said, adding that the exercise could not be conducted smoothly due to poor connectivity, she said.

Another official also said that Champhai district, which hosts the maximum number of refugees, has begun the enrolment drive on Thursday.

According to the state home department, more than 32,000 Myanmar refugees are currently taking shelter across all 11 districts of Mizoram, with Champhai hosting the highest at 13,586.

The number, however, keeps changing almost on a daily basis as some of them have a habit of going to their country and coming back to Mizoram, the officials said.

The home department also said that over 2,000 Bangladeshi nationals from the Chittagong Hill Tracts are staying in the state.

These Myanmar nationals, mostly from the Chin state of the neighbouring country, came to Mizoram, following a military coup there in February 2021, while many people from Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts came to the state after a military offensive against an ethnic insurgent group in 2022.

The Chins in Myanmar and the Bawm tribe of Bangladesh share close ethnic ties with the Mizos of Mizoram. (PTI)