Centre assures Mizoram of measures to help Myanmar refugees: CM

Aizawl, Dec 6 (PTI) The Centre has assured the Mizoram government that it will take measures so that the north-eastern state can continue to provide humanitarian assistance to people of Myanmar who have taken refuge in the state following a coup in the neighbouring country, Chief Minister Zoramthanga said on Monday.

Myanmar nationals have been fleeing the country since February following the coup that left its democratically elected government in exile and sparked protests and subsequent crackdowns.

During his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi recently, Zoramthanga said he had urged the prime minister to provide assistance to the Myanmar nationals, who fled their country due to a “humanitarian” crisis.

"The Prime Minister assured me that the Centre will make a plan to enable Mizoram to continue with its assistance to Myanmar nationals. The Centre cannot directly help the Myanmar refugees because India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention of 1951 and its 1967 Protocol," Zoramthanga told reporters here.

More than 14,000 Myanmar nationals, mostly from the Chin state of Myanmar, are currently taking shelter in different parts of Mizoram.

While many live in relief camps or temporary shelters set up by villagers, others are accommodated by their relatives and some live in rented houses.

Six Mizoram districts- Champhai, Siaha, Lawngtlai, Serchhip, Hnahthial and Saitual- share a 510-km-long border with Myanmar’s Chin state. The Chin community and Mizos share the same ancestry.

According to the chief minister, representatives from Sweden will visit Mizoram through International Red Cross to provide assistance and witness the ground situation.

Zoamthanga said he had informed PM Modi that the Myanmar nationals are being provided with shelter, food, clothing and other requirements by the state government, NGOs, village authorities, churches and individuals.

The chief minister said that the Myanmar nationals continue to trickle in and their number fluctuates regularly as some of them return to their villages without the knowledge of officials.

"As per our record, over 14,000 Myanmar nationals are currently taking shelter in Mizoram," he said.

Zoramthanga had written several times to the Centre and sent delegations to Delhi seeking asylum and humanitarian aid for the Myanmar nationals.

Mizoram is already home to thousands of Chin communities of Myanmar, who migrated to the state since the late 1980s fleeing the military junta in the neighbouring country. PTI COR MM MM