Aizawl: Mizoram has completed biometric enrolment for 58.15 per cent of the more than 31,000 Myanmar refugees currently taking shelter across all 11 districts, a home department official said.
He added that biometric and biographic details of 10.84 per cent of asylum seekers from Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) have also been recorded.
The enrolment of refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh began in July following a directive from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and is being conducted through the Foreigners Identification Portal and Biometric Enrolment system, the official said.
Over 31,214 people from Myanmar are presently living in various parts of Mizoram, with Champhai district, which borders the neighbouring country, hosting the highest number.
He added that apart from those arriving from Myanmar, a total of 2,354 refugees from Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts have also sought shelter—primarily in Lawngtlai district, which borders both Myanmar and Bangladesh—along with neighbouring Lunglei district and Thenzawl town in Serchhip district.
Besides, 6,953 internally displaced people from Manipur are also currently taking shelter in different parts of the state, he added.
So far, biometric details of over 200 of the 2,354 CHT refugees have been captured.
District officials carrying out the biometric exercise are encountering multiple hurdles, including technical glitches and weak or unavailable internet connectivity in remote villages, which has significantly slowed down the process, he said.
“While it is easier to collect data from refugees living in relief camps, it becomes difficult when they are staying with relatives, friends or in rented houses,” he added.
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Most of the Myanmar nationals, primarily from Chin state, fled to Mizoram following the military coup in their country in February 2021. The CHT refugees from the Bawm community arrived in 2022 after a military offensive against an ethnic insurgent group in Bangladesh.
The Chins in Myanmar and Bawm tribe of Bangladesh share close ethnic ties with the Mizos.
