Aizawl,  2 July

Preparations are underway for the biometric enrollment of over 32,000 Myanmar refugees currently sheltered in Mizoram, a senior official said on Wednesday.

State Additional Home Secretary Andrew H. Vanlaldika said the collection of biometric and demographic data of the refugees will be carried out across all eleven districts of the state within this month.

He said training of officials had been held by district administrations recently, and they would be provided with equipment such as computers, webcams and other materials required for enrollment.

"The biometric enrollment of the Myanmar refugees will begin this month, depending on the convenience of district administrations," Vanlaldika told PTI.

"We have held training for officials for this purpose. The enrollment will be done online," he added.

Vanlaldika clarified that the enrollment is strictly for identification purposes and should not be seen as a step toward deportation.

"The biometric enrollment is specifically meant for the identification of Myanmar refugees and does not connote deportation to their country," he stressed.

The enrollment will be carried out using the Foreigner Identification Portal, developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), he said.

Vanlaldika also mentioned that a similar exercise may be undertaken later for Bangladeshi nationals staying in south Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district, subject to instructions from the Centre.

Aizawl Deputy Commissioner Lalhriatpuia said the enrollment exercise will begin in the district soon.

He said the district administration may face challenges as the number of Myanmar refugees is not static due to their frequent movement to and from the neighbouring country.

There are about 3,000 Myanmar refugees in Aizawl district, he added.

According to data from the state home department, a total of 32,419 Myanmar nationals are presently sheltered in Mizoram’s eleven districts.

However, the numbers fluctuate almost daily, as many refugees return to their villages in Myanmar and later come back to Mizoram, another home department official said.

The department also said 2,371 Bangladeshi nationals from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) are currently staying in the state.

In addition, 7,354 Zo ethnic people from Manipur, displaced by ethnic violence since May 2023 — have taken shelter in the state.

The Myanmar nationals, mostly from Chin state, fled to Mizoram following a military coup in the neighbouring country in February 2021, while the asylum seekers from Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts came to the state after a military offensive against an ethnic insurgent group in 2022.

The Chins in Myanmar, Bawm tribe from Bangladesh and Kuki-zo people from Manipur share close ethnic ties with the Mizos.