UKHRUL, NOVEMBER 20: A home department official stated that 58.1 per cent biometric enrolment of more than 31,000 Mayanmar refugees has been completed across all 11 districts of Mizoram.
He said the state has also collected biometric and biographic data of 10.84 per cent of the 2,354 asylum seekers from Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).
A directive from the Ministry of Home Affairs in July led to the enrolment of Maynamr and Bangladesh refugees using Foreigners Identification Portal and Biometric Enrolment system, he added.
According to him Mizoram is currently hosting 31,214 people from Mayanmar, with the highest concentration in the border district of Champhai.
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In addition, 2,354 refugees from Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts have taken shelter mainly in Lawngatlai district which borders both Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Biometric and biographic data of a little over 200 of the Bangladeshi refugees have been captured so far.
He also stated that the state is also accommodating 6,953 internally displaced people from Manipur.
However, district teams conducting the exercise are struggling with multiple hurdles, including technical issues and limited or unreliable internet in remote villages, which has slowed progress.
“While it is easier to collect data from refugees living in relief camps, it is difficult to undertake the task of collecting data of people residing with relatives or friends or in rented houses,” he said.
Most of the Myanmar nationals largely from Chin state arrived after the 2021 military coup, while members of the Bawm tribe from the Chittagong Hill Tracts fled to Mizoram in 2022 following military operations against an ethnic insurgent group.
Both the Chin and Bawm communities share deep ethnic ties with the Mizos.
Collecting biometric details of refugees helps the state distinguish between refugees and citizens, ensure safety of refugees, manage aid, housing and supporting law-and-order.