Aizawl, Feb 2 Authorities in Mizoram have so far registered the biometric details of nearly 90 per cent of about 30,900 Myanmar nationals, including women and children, who have taken shelter in the state after fleeing their country in different phases following the military coup in February 2021, officials said on Monday.
Home Department officials said that of around 30,900 Myanmar nationals who have sought refuge across Mizoram’s 11 districts, biometric enrolment has been completed for over 27,810 persons.
According to the officials, the biometric details of around 15 per cent of the 2,375 Bangladeshi refugees have been recorded so far in three districts -- Lawngtlai, Lunglei, and Serchhip.
Following the advice of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the biometric enrolment process has been underway through the Foreigners Identification Portal and the Biometric Enrolment System.
Out of the state’s 11 districts, central Mizoram’s Serchhip district administration first launched the biometric enrolment drive for the refugees on July 30, following which the remaining 10 districts commenced the process.
Aizawl district, which is hosting around 4,160 Myanmar refugees, and Lunglei and Serchhip districts, have achieved 100 per cent completion of the biometric enrolment process.
Champhai district, which shares a large unfenced border with Myanmar, continues to host the largest concentration of refugees, numbering around 12,000.
Meanwhile, Home Department officials said that around 240 fresh refugees from Myanmar entered Mizoram last week due to renewed unrest in Chin state in the neighbouring country.
Of these, Champhai district alone recorded 231 refugees last week, while the remaining took shelter in Hnahthial district.
Both Myanmar and Bangladeshi refugees are sheltered in designated camps, as well as in relatives’ and rented houses across all 11 districts of the mountainous state.
An official pointed out that while it is easy to collect biometric details from refugees living in camps, the process is more challenging for those staying in relatives’ and rented houses spread across hundreds of remote villages.
"To tackle this problem, the district authorities have sought the help of village councils and civil society organisations, especially the Young Mizo Association," he added.
Along with biometric data, the enrolment process also includes the collection of biographical details such as names, addresses, parents’ names, and employment history, both in Myanmar and Mizoram.
The Myanmar refugees, mostly from Chin state, and Bangladesh’s Bawm (also known as the Bawmzo tribal community), share close ethnic, traditional and cultural affinities with the majority Mizo community of Mizoram. Myanmar’s Chin state shares an unfenced 510-km mountainous border with Mizoram’s Champhai, Siaha, Lawngtlai, Hnahthial, Saitual and Serchhip districts, while Mamit, Lunglei and Lawngtlai districts share a 318-km-long unfenced border with Bangladesh. Mizoram has also given shelter to a few thousand displaced tribals following ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities in neighbouring Manipur in May 2023.
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