Aizawl: The Mizoram government is planning to relocate all refugees, currently scattered across various locations and villages, to one place for administrative convenience.
This was informed by Lalmuanpuia Punte, political adviser to the chief minister Lalduhoma
Punte on Thursday convened a meeting with officials of south Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district, including DC Cheemala Siva Gopal Reddy, to discuss issues concerning over 2,000 Bangladeshi refugees taking shelter in the district.
A mechanism should be put in place while giving shelter to the refugees, which will help in the event of a further influx in the future, he added.
“Formal guidelines should be formulated to prevent the refugees from settling wherever they want and shifting anywhere they choose. This has to stop by making proper arrangements to keep them together as far as possible,” Punte said.
The plan will also help the government in providing humanitarian assistance in a more convenient way, he said.
He said the government is mulling to relocate 2,014 refugees from Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh in four villages — Parva, Damdep-II, Cherluitlang and Saizawh.
He said that a team has already conducted a study of the four villages and will submit its report to the high-level committee on Bangladesh refugees soon.
Lawngtlai shares a border with both Myanmar and Bangladesh and the southernmost district currently hosts 6,030 refugees from Myanmar and 84 internally displaced people from Manipur besides 2,014 Bangladeshi refugees, according to deputy commissioner Cheemala Siva Gopal Reddy.
The DC said rice is being distributed free of cost to the refugees and the displaced.
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According to the state Home department, over 33,000 Myanmar nationals, including 12,572 children, are currently taking shelter across all the 11 districts of the state.
