‘Over 29,000 Myanmarese taking shelter in Mizoram’

Aizawl: More than 29,000 Myanmar nationals displaced due to conflict following a military coup in the neighbouring country have taken shelter in different parts of Mizoram, state home minister K Sapdanga said on Wednesday.

In a written reply to a question from ruling Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) member V L Zaithanzama on the first day of the two-day monsoon session of the Assembly, Sapdanga said that all district administrations have begun the exercise

of biometric enrollment for the displaced people from Myanmar.

“Altogether 29,046 Myanmar nationals are taking shelter in Mizoram as on August 11,” the home minister said.

Sapdanga said the Centre is taking steps to fence the India-Myanmar border in consultation with the state government, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and Assam Rifles, which guards the international border.

Mizoram shares a 510-km-long border with Myanmar, and the state’s civil society organisations and student bodies, including the Young Mizo Association (YMA), have strongly opposed the Centre’s plan to fence it.

The Myanmar nationals, mostly from the Chin community, which shares ethnic ties with Mizos, fled to Mizoram following conflict after a military coup in the neighbouring country in February 2021.