Hyderabad: Like before Mizoram, a tiny state in the northeast, is bearing the brunt of refugee spillover from Manipur, though willy-nilly this time.
The phenomenon is putting a burden on state coffers: the state government's decision has cost ₹38 crore from the state exchequer on the Myanmarese and Bangladeshi refugees. An official from the State Home Department, who requested anonymity, said the refugee crisis can put more pressure on the state exchequer. The number of refugees from Namipur swelled to 8,000, the official said. For long, Mizoram, which shares a 95-km long border with Manipur, a 722-km border with Myanmar, and a 318-km border with Bangladesh, took the onus of welcoming refugees be it from Bangladesh and Myanmar even defying the Centre's instruction.
This time around, the number of refugees from violence-hit Manipur is swelling almost every day. They are mostly Kukis, who have fled to the state over the past few weeks after ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur. Mizoram, already home to refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh, grapples with the spillover. The state government is working overtime to ensure the safe stay of newcomers without compromising its own interests and India’s security concerns. It is also home to the Chin-Kuki-Mizo ethnic group, which has close cultural and linguistic ties with the people of the Chin Hills in Myanmar, the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh, and the Kukis in Manipur; and it has now become a natural destination for people fleeing violence, persecution and instability.
State government records show over 40,000 Myanmar nationals, 700 Bangladesh nationals, and around 8000 people from Manipur who have taken shelter in Mizoram. The Mizoram government has ignored the Union home ministry’s strict orders against hosting any refugees, and been vocal in its support of Myanmarese refugees who started streaming in after the military coup of February 2021, and the Bangladesh nationals who came to the state after clashes between the Bangladesh Army and the Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA) began in October last year.
Mizoram-based NGOs have also come forward to help refugees. The Central Young Mizo Association’s (CYMA) President R. Lalngheta said his NGO has shelled out ₹57 lakh in welcoming Myanmarese and ₹31 lakh on Bangladeshi refugees.
