Mizoram civil groups urge refugees, IDPs to shun drug trafficking, preserve unity

Mizoram civil society groups, on July 23, took a step to curb drug trafficking by urging refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh, as well as internally displaced people (IDPs) from Manipur taking shelter in the state, not to engage in drug trafficking.

Mizoram has been grappling with the menace of drug smuggling, and a section of refugees, particularly Myanmar nationals, was blamed for their alleged involvement.

The meeting of the NGO Coordination Committee, a conglomerate of five major civil societies and student organisations headed by the Central Young Mizo Association (CYMA), appealed to the refugees and IDPs not to have ethnic or tribe centric interest and develop the feeling of separateness to disturb the vibrant Mizo unity, a statement issued by the group said.

The meeting expressed regret over the report of ethnic feelings being developed by refugees and urged them not to take any steps which can undermine the unity of Mizo communities, the statement said.

The meeting further urged people from Myanmar, Bangladesh and Manipur taking shelter in the state, to refrain from drug trafficking.

Earlier, state home minister K Sapdanga had said that more than 50 per cent of criminal cases in recent times were linked to the refugees.

According to the state home department, more than 32,000 Myanmar nationals are presently sheltering in different parts of Mizoram.

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

The home department also said that 2,371 Bangladeshi nationals from the Chittagong Hill Tracts are currently staying in the state.

In addition, more than 7,000 Zo ethnic people from Manipur displaced by ethnic violence since May 2023 have taken shelter in the state, it said.

The Myanmar nationals, mostly from Chin state, fled to Mizoram following a military coup in the neighbouring country in February 2021, while the asylum seekers 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, the Bawm tribe from Bangladesh and the Kuki-Zo people from Manipur share close ethnic ties with the Mizos.