AIZAWL, AUG 27 (SHABD): More than 29,500 people from Myanmar are currently taking shelter in Mizoram and over 98 per cent of them have been biometrically enrolled by the state government, a Minister informed the state legislature on Thursday.
State Home Minister K. Sapdanga said that a total of 29,575 Myanmar refugees are currently living in different parts of Mizoram as per the record maintained by the state Home department till August 20.
The state government has also completed biometric enrolment of 98.90 per cent of the refugees from Myanmar, he said.
The Home Minister said that the Mizoram government has so far spent Rs 40.60 lakh on biometric enrolment of refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh, while financial assistance has also been received from the Centre for the care and maintenance of Myanmar refugees.
Following the Centre directive, the biometric enrollment of Myanmar and Bangladesh refugees began in the last part of July last year using ‘Foreigners Identification Portal & Biometric Enrollment.
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The Myanmar nationals, mostly from Chin state, fled to Mizoram following a military coup in the neighbouring country in February 2021, while the asylum seekers belonging to Bawm tribe from Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts came to the state after a military offensive against an ethnic insurgent group in 2022.
More than 2,000 people from Bangladesh are currently taking shelter in Mizoram, officials said.
The Chins in Myanmar and the Bawm tribe of Bangladesh share close ethnic ties with the Mizos.
Sapdanga also said that the state government is also examining measures to strengthen police infrastructure along the Mizoram-Myanmar border.
The existing Hnahlan police beat post in east Mizoram’s Champhai district near the Myanmar border is being considered for upgradation into a full-fledged police station, he said.
He said that the state government has also proposed to recruit 385 personnel in the state police during the current year.
The proposed recruitment includes 15 Sub-Inspectors (Unarmed), 10 Assistant Sub-Inspectors (Unarmed), 10 Assistant Sub-Inspectors (Ministerial), 150 Constables (Unarmed) and 200 Constables (Armed), Sapdanga said.
