Mizoram plans to relocate all refugees to centralised shelter areas

The Mizoram government is planning to relocate all refugees in the state to centralised shelters for better management and humanitarian assistance. This includes over 33,000 Myanmar nationals and 7,756 internally displaced people from Manipur, in addition to 2,000 Bangladeshi refugees.

Lalmuanpuia Punte, political adviser to the chief minister, held a meeting on Thursday with officials from Lawngtlai district, addressing the ongoing refugee situation. He emphasised the need for proper guidelines to prevent refugees from settling in unapproved locations, making it easier for the government to provide support.

Plans are in place to relocate 2,014 Bangladeshi refugees from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), currently spread across various villages in Lawngtlai, to four designated villages within the district. Lawngtlai, which borders Myanmar and Bangladesh, also hosts refugees from Myanmar and internally displaced people from Manipur.

The Young Mizo Association (YMA) has called for a more organised system to handle the state's total refugee population, which includes over 33,000 Myanmar nationals and nearly 8,000 internally displaced people from Manipur. The government is working on plans to create proper shelters and provide better management of the refugee influx. (With inputs from PTI)