Mizoram begins collecting biometric data of Myanmar, Bangladeshi refugees

Aizawl, July 31 Following the direction of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Mizoram government started the process to collect biometrics and biographic data of Myanmar and Bangladeshi refugees taking shelter in the northeastern state after fleeing from their countries, officials said here on Thursday.

An official of the Mizoram Home Department said that the Champhai and Lunglei district administrations started the biometric data collection for Myanmar and Bangladesh refugees on Thursday.

He said that the Serchhip district administration in central Mizoram on Wednesday first launched the biometric enrolment drive for the refugees. The process of recording biometric and biographic data of Myanmar and Bangladeshi refugees on the 'Foreigners Identification Portal and Biometric Enrolment' for displaced persons from Myanmar and Bangladeshi nationals would be done in all 11 districts of Mizoram.

Champhai district is home to 13,586 refugees, while Lunglei hosts around 2,000 refugees. According to the official, the MHA would bear the cost of expenditure of the biometrics and biographic data collection, the Mizoram government, however, has already sanctioned Rs 38 lakh to initiate the process.

The Mizoram government has recently provided vigorous training to the district-level officials to collect biometrics and biographic data of Myanmar and Bangladeshi refugees taking shelter in the state, which shares 510 km and 318 km unfenced international borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh, respectively.

As per the Mizoram government record, around 33,000 refugees from Myanmar and over 2,370 refugees from Bangladesh are currently taking shelter in the Northeastern state.

After a military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, refugees, including women and children from the neighbouring country, started coming to Mizoram seeking shelter, and now their numbers have increased to around 33,000.

The Bangladeshi Bawm community tribals from Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) have also been staying in Mizoram for over two years after they fled from their country due to ethnic troubles, following the Bangladesh Army launched a crackdown on the tribals.

The MHA had earlier asked both the Manipur and Mizoram governments to capture biographic and biometric details of "illegal migrants" in the two states and complete the process at the earliest.

Over 4,650 people, including women and children, from Myanmar earlier this month fled to Mizoram and taken shelter in three locations of Champhai district following a series of armed clashes between the Chin National Defence Force (CNDF) and Chinland Defence Force (CDF), both anti-military ethnic groups, who were engaged in fierce gun battles between June 28 and July 5 over control of the territory.

However, as the situation along the India-Myanmar border is relatively calm now majority of the newly arrived Myanmar refugees have returned to their villages in the neighbouring country.

The Myanmar refugees, mostly Chin tribes and have almost full ethnic and cultural similarity with the majority Mizos of Mizoram, now sheltered in camps and relatives’ houses in 11 districts in the northeastern state. Also, the Bawm, also known as Bawmzo, are a small ethnic group primarily residing in the CHT of Bangladesh, and they have almost full ethnic and cultural resemblance with the majority Mizos of Mizoram.

Myanmar's Chin state shares 510 km of mountainous borders with six Mizoram districts -- Champhai, Siaha, Lawngtlai, Hnahthial, Saitual and Serchhip.

Mizoram's three districts, Mamit, Lunglei and Lawngtlai, share a 318 km-long border with Bangladesh.

--IANS

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