Aizawl, The Mizoram government has almost completed biometric registration of refugees from Myanmar who have taken refuge across the state, Home Minister K Sapdanga informed the Assembly on Monday.
The minister said that deputy commissioners are currently supervising the final stage of the process.
“In all, 93% of the biometric registration of refugees from Myanmar has been completed as of February 5. We aim to complete the remaining work as quickly as possible,” he said.
According to the minister, Mizoram currently hosts 38,059 people, including refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh as well as internally displaced persons from neighboring Manipur.
He said the registration process, which includes collecting biometric and demographic details of asylum seekers from Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hills district, is also underway and is expected to be completed soon.
A senior state home department official said that 13% of the more than 2,300 Bangladeshi nationals have been registered so far.
Of the foreign nationals accommodated in the state, Myanmar nationals make up the largest portion, with more than 28,000 people residing in all 11 districts.
The official said that Bangladeshi asylum seekers mainly reside in Longtlai and Serchip districts.
In addition, nearly 7,000 Kuki Zo residents of Manipur, who were displaced due to ethnic violence, have been sheltered in the state, another official said.
The registration drive for refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh began in late July last year through the “Foreigner Identification Portal and Biometric Registration System” following directives from the Home Ministry.
The senior official said that district authorities faced obstacles such as technical glitches and poor or non-availability of internet connectivity in remote villages, especially in Longtlai district.
He added that while it is easier to collect data from refugees living in relief camps, it is more difficult to collect data on people staying with relatives, friends or in rented homes.
“Although the number of refugees from Myanmar is constantly changing due to frequent migration in and out of the country, we are doing our best to ensure that no refugee is left behind. We also hope to complete the process soon,” the senior official told PTI.
Mizoram shares an international border of 510 km with Myanmar in the east and 318 km with Bangladesh in the west.
Myanmar nationals, mostly from Chin State, fled to Mizoram after a military coup in the neighboring country in February 2021, while asylum seekers belonging to the Bum ethnic group, a Mizo tribe, from Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts, arrived in the state after a military offensive against an ethnic rebel group in 2022.
The Chin, Bom and Zo-Kuki people share close ethnic ties with the Mizo people.
This article was generated from an automated news feed without any modifications to the text.
