Mizoram: Around 3,000 Myanmar refugees return home

Guwahati: Around 3,000 Myanmar refugees who recently took shelter in Mizoram during the armed clashes between two ethnic armed groups have returned to their country. Approximately 4,653 refugees from Myanmar had sought refuge in the border villages of Zokhawthar, Saikhumphai, and Vaiphai in Mizoram's Champhai district.

The refugees came from three villages in Chin State, Myanmar—Khawmawi, Rihkhawdar, and Lianhna—in the first and second weeks of July. Sources along Mizoram's border with Myanmar reported that the situation along the India-Myanmar border is relatively improving, leading to the return of the refugees to their villages.

According to officials, of the 4,653 Myanmar refugees, 3,867 had sheltered in Zokhawthar, and 786 in Vaiphai and Saikhumphai villages in Champhai district. Approximately 500 refugees had taken shelter in relief camps, while the remaining were accommodated in the houses of relatives and friends, the official said.


Recently, a fresh batch of refugees has started arriving since July 2. Gun battles erupted between the Chin National Defence Force and the Chinland Defence Force-Hualngoram over control of Chin State in Myanmar.

Since a military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, refugees, including women and children from the neighboring country, have been coming to Mizoram seeking shelter, and their numbers have now increased to around 35,000.

The refugees, mostly from the Chin tribes, share almost full ethnic and cultural similarities with the majority Mizos of Mizoram. They are currently sheltered in camps across most of the 11 districts in the northeastern state, which has an unfenced 510 km border with Myanmar.