Over 15,000 Myanmar nationals taking refuge in Mizoram

AIZAWL: Over 15,000 Myanmar nationals have taken refuge in Mizoram following the tensions in the neighbouring country, MNF Rajya Sabha member K Vanlalvena informed Parliament on Tuesday.

As per a statement issued by Mizoram’s Department of Information and Public Relations, he told the House that Myanmar nationals took refuge in different parts of the state.

While the majority of them are lodged at 15 relief camps set up jointly by the state government and civil society organisations, some are accommodated by their relatives, he said.

They are provided with shelter, food, clothing, utensils and other essential items by the state government, NGOs, churches, political parties and individuals amid the COVID-19 pandemic without any assistance from the Centre, Vanlalvena said. He also said that their children are enrolled in government schools across the state.

He further urged the Centre to provide assistance to the Myanmar nationals even though India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention of 1951 and its 1967 Protocol.

Earlier, Chief Minister Zoramthanga had said that the Centre assured him that it would take measures to enable the Mizoram government to provide assistance to the displaced Myanmar nationals.