More than 30,000 Myanmar refugees take shelter in Mizoram as junta’s assault continues

The small hilly state of Mizoram is increasingly bearing the brunt of the military junta’s intensified action of air strikes and ambushes on pro-democracy protesters and rebels in Myanmar.

For the first time, Mizoram home minister Lalchamliana, came on record to inform that as many as 30,401 Myanmar nationals took shelter in the state since the military took over Aung San Suu Kyi-led government in February 2021.

Responding to a query in the state Assembly on Tuesday, Lalchamliana said that of these 30,177 Myanmar nationals have been provided identity cards as "refugees" by the state government for identification and future deportation.

“The process for giving identity cards will continue as the influx is continuing due to the armed conflict,” he stated.

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An official in the state's home department said on Wednesday that a fresh group of 589 refugees, including women and children, crossed the border last week and took shelter in Mizoram’s southernmost district Lawngtlai, following an airstrike on August 30 in Myanmar’s Chin state. In Lawngtlai alone, nearly 6,000 Myanmar nationals have taken shelter so far.

Mizoram shares a 510-km border with Myanmar’s Chin state.

“The military junta is attacking not just People Defence Forces (armed forces of the pro-democracy activists) but also civilians and civilian infrastructure from both the air and the ground. As the military attack has intensified, people are running for their lives and many of them have taken shelter in Mizoram too,” Ngai Tam Maung, a Member of Myanmar Parliament from Suu Kyi’s party National League for Democracy, told DH on July 21.

Maung, along with 40 other MPs, MLAs and a Chief Minister also fled Myanmar and were taking shelter in Mizoram. “Some are staying in Manipur and Nagaland, too. After the military coup, the junta detained most of our national leaders, some MPs and some society leaders," he said, while calling for India's help to restore democracy in Myanmar.

India’s response

Initially, the Centre had asked the northeastern states to detain the “infiltrators” and take steps for their deportation. However, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that it was Mizoram’s responsibility to help the Chin refugees, as they were “ethnically Mizo brethren”.

The chief minister also said his state could not turn “a blind eye to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in their backyard.”

During his meeting with Modi on December 1, 2021, in New Delhi, Zoramthanga requested the prime minister to be sympathetic to the Chin refugees.

On Tuesday, Lalchamliana told the state assembly that Mizoram’s disaster management and rehabilitation department spent Rs 3 crore so far for their relief. Churches, local NGOs and students’ bodies also chipped in by providing shelter, arranging food and helping the refugees earning livelihoods in villages and towns of Mizoram.