HT DIGITAL
AIZAWL, AUGUST 12: Over 1,900 refugees from Bangladesh and Myanmar have been registered so far in Mizoram’s ongoing biometric enrollment drive, a government official informed on Monday.
The exercise, which commenced on July 28 in a couple of districts and on July 30 and 31 spread to all other districts, encompasses more than 32,000 Myanmar citizens and close to 3,000 Bangladeshi refugees from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) who have sought refuge in the state.
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As per authorities, the process is moving slowly because of technical issues and weak internet networks in rural regions. Until Friday, biometric and demographic information of 1,947 refugees have been gathered in all 11 districts.
Registering refugees who are residing in relief camps has been comparatively simpler, but officials struggle to register kids schooling in Aizawl or other districts than where their parents are currently residing, and refugees living in rented accommodations or with kin outside camps.
Champhai district with the largest number of Myanmar refugees at 13,586 started its enrollment on July 31 but registered only seven refugees so far due to technical device failures. New devices have been taken from Aizawl, and officials hope for smoother progress during the week.
Currently, 32,504 Myanmar nationals are sheltering in Mizoram, with numbers fluctuating daily as some return to their country and come back again. Most are from Chin State, having fled after Myanmar’s February 2021 military coup.
Besides, more than 2,000 Bangladeshi refugees are residing in Lawngtlai district, 266 in Serchhip, and 63 in Lunglei. They are predominantly the Bawm tribe, which is closely ethnically related to the Mizos, and who had fled following a 2022 military crackdown on an ethnic rebel group in Bangladesh’s CHT.
