Mizoram receives Rs 8 cr central aid for providing relief to refugees

way2barak, Aug 21: The Central government so far provided Rs 8 crore to the Mizoram government to provide relief to over 43,000 people from Myanmar, Bangladesh and Manipur, who have taken refuge in the state, Home Minister K. Sapdanga said here on Tuesday.

He said that the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) government would utilise the central fund to provide relief to the refugees.

Chief Minister Pu Lalduhoma met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence on Monday and expressed his gratitude for the Central government’s assistance to Mizoram for the displaced people.

According to the officials, around 34,000 refugees from Myanmar took shelter in Mizoram after the military takeover in the conflict-ridden country in February 2021 while more than 2,000 Bangladeshi tribals have been staying in Mizoram since November 2022 after they fled from Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) following ethnic troubles.

At present, there were 4,215 internally displaced people (IDPs) from Manipur taking shelter in several districts of Mizoram after the ethnic violence broke out in the neighbouring state in May last year.

Meanwhile, due to the renewed battles between the Myanmar Army and the alliance of three ethnic insurgent groups, including the Chin National Army (CNA), over 1,500 Myanmarese recently took shelter in Mizoram.

Sources said that the Tatmadaw, as the Myanmar military is known, engaged in fresh armed conflict with an alliance of three ethnic insurgent outfits including CNA in Chin and Rakhine states.

Mizoram Home Department officials said that around 1,500 fresh Myanmar refugees recently entered Mizoram and sheltered in the five districts – Champhai, Serchhip, Lawngtlai, Siaha, and Aizawl.

The refugees from Myanmar, Bangladesh and Manipur belong to the Kuki-Zo-Chin-Hmar tribal community, who also share ethnic, traditional, cultural and linguistic ties with the Mizos of Mizoram.