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| Myanmar Refugees |
The highest influx was in Hnahthial, where over 1,000 people are said to have crossed over to escape the violence and several small groups comprising people up to 50 have crossed to different places of Mizoram.
Aizawl: Over 4,000 displaced people from the Chin state of Myanmar crossed over to Mizoram during January, taking the official number of refugees in the state to 16,000 and more. Due to frequent armed clashes between the Myanmar army and the local resistance groups in Chin state, Mizoram is now housing over 20,000 Chin refugees across the state.
The latest influx has seen many people entering the Indian state of Mizoram, starting from January 5 to the last day of the month. At Least 4000 people have crossed the border and taken refuge in mainly two bordering districts of Mizoram, namely Champhai and Lawngtlai. According to North East Live, over 4000 refugees have taken shelter in the Champhai district, and close to 5000 refugees are taking shelter in the Lawngtlai district.
Since the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, Chin state has been at the forefront of the armed resistance to the junta. Almost 20 thousand Myanmar nationals have crossed over to India since then.
Some 15,000 people from Chin state crossed into Mizoram in July-August of 2021 during the fighting that broke out between a pro-democracy civilian resistance group called Chin Defence Force (CDF), backed and trained by the Chin National Army.
Unofficial estimates place the number of arrivals from January 5 to January 31 at over 4000. The highest influx was in Hnahthial, where over 1,000 people are said to have crossed over to escape the violence. Hnahthial is located right across the Chin township of Falam. Lunglei and Lwangtlai have seen some 1300 people cross over during January. Over 100 people crossed over into Saiha, and over 800 people arrived in Mamit near the Tripura border. Several small groups comprising people up to 50 have crossed to different places of Mizoram. The Mizoram government recently said that they would issue identity cards to the Myanmar refugees taking shelter in Mizoram.
Courtesy : Organiser
