Mizoram Government Planning To Relocate State’s Refugees To A Single Location

AIZAWL: The Mizoram government plans to relocate all refugees currently taking shelter in various parts of the state to a single location, Lalmuanpuia Punte, the political adviser to Mizoram Chief Minister said.

Punte held a meeting on Thursday with officials from south Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district to address issues related to over 2,000 Bangladeshi refugees currently taking shelter in the area.

Punte said that the government is working to relocate the refugees and gather them in one location rather than having them scattered across various villages, which facilitates administrative efficiency.

Punte further said that plans are underway to relocate 2,014 refugees from Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), who are currently residing in various villages in Lawngtlai district, to four designated villages within the same district.

According to Deputy Commissioner Cheemala Siva Gopal Reddy, Lawngtlai, the southernmost district, shares borders with both Myanmar and Bangladesh and is currently home to 6,030 refugees from Myanmar, 84 internally displaced individuals from Manipur, and 2,014 refugees from Bangladesh.

The Young Mizo Association (YMA), the largest civil society organization in the state, earlier requested the government to set up a systematic mechanism, including proper shelter homes, to accommodate and manage over 42,000 refugees.

Currently, over 33,000 Myanmar nationals, including 12,572 children, have taken shelter across all 11 districts of the state, as per the state home department.

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