General
The biometric enrolment of refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh in Mizoram is underway.
A senior official of the Mizoram Home Department admitted that the biometric enrolment process is under in 11 districts of the state.
The official said, “Serchhip district administration first launched the biometric enrolment drive for the refugees on July 30 and subsequently other districts initiated the biometric enrolment process. Around 11,000 refugees’ biometrics and biographic data were registered”.
He added, “There are technical hurdles and poor network connection which these people are battling. In Champhai which has around 13,580 Myanmar refugees, the exercise started on July 31.”
While around 33,000 refugees from Myanmar are taking shelter in all 11 districts of Mizoram, and over 2,370 refugees from Chittagong Hill Tracts in southeast Bangladesh are taking refuge mainly in Lawngtlai district of southern Mizoram bordering both Myanmar and Bangladesh.
The Mizoram government has recently provided training to the district-level officials to collect biometrics and biographic data of the refugees taking shelter in the state.
After a military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, refugees took shelter and now their numbers have increased to around 33,000.
The refugees, mostly Chin tribes, have almost full ethnic and cultural similarity with the majority Mizos of Mizoram, now sheltered in camps.