Over 31,500 refugees from Myanmar, Bangladesh taking shelter in Mizoram

Over 31,500 refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh have taken shelter in different parts of Mizoram. 

The number of Myanmar nationals taking refuge in the northeastern state was 31,050 as on January 27, and those from Bangladesh were 541. 

The Bangladeshi nationals are lodged in 160 makeshift camps set up in eight villages in Lawngtlai district, an official 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 (CHT) came to the state after a military offensive against an ethnic insurgent group. 

Also Read: Mizoram refugee crisis deepens, more refugees from Bangladesh enter state

Mizoram shares a 510-km-long porous border with Myanmar and a 318-km boundary with Bangladesh. 

Mizoram Home Minister Lalchamliana had recently informed the assembly that the state government has so far released over Rs 3.8 crore as part of relief measures for the Myanmar nationals, and Rs 30 lakh for those from Bangladesh.

The refugee crisis in Mizoram is deepening with each passing day as more enter the state following the escalating fight between the Bangladesh army and the armed rebel group Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA).

As per reports, over 470 refugees are currently sheltering in the Lawngtlai district of Mizoram.

Local NGOs engaged in humanitarian aid have alleged that the Border Security Force personnel have pushed back 932 displaced people, seeking asylum in Mizoram.

In just the first week of 2023, 62 Kuki Chin refugees from Bangladesh have camped the Lawngtlai district of Mizoram. According to estimates, 45 refugees entered Parva-III village on January 5, bringing the overall number of Bangladeshi refugees in Mizoram to 62 as of 2023.

According to official records, the combined troops of the Bangladeshi army and the Myanmarese rebel group Arakan Army (AA) attacked civilians on November 16, and the first group of 274 refugees from Chittagong, Bangladesh, landed in Mizoram on November 20, 2022.

Over the past few months, fighting between the Bangladesh army and the Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA) near Chittagong has escalated.

The Kuki-National Army (KNA) has intensified confrontation in Chittagong during the past few months.