Mizoram refuses to collect biometric data of Myanmar refugees citing rights violation

The Mizoram government on September 27 has refused to collect biometric data from Myanmar refugees residing in the state. Mizoram government said that it would amount to violation of rights. 

The move to collect biometric data of more than 30,000 Myanmar nationals living in Mizoram since February 2021 was met with strong opposition from the state government. The refugees sought shelter in Mizoram following a military coup in Myanmar.

The pilot project for recording biometric data of Myanmar nationals was launched across all 11 districts of Mizoram, primarily in relief camps. However, the state government, led by Chief Minister Zoramthanga, raised concerns about the potential violation of the refugees' rights.

This development comes after the Ministry of Home Affairs had initially instructed both Manipur and Mizoram to collect biometric details of illegal immigrants from Myanmar. The deadline for completing this exercise was set for September 30. Still, Mizoram faced delays as the original data collection format had to be modified to accommodate information from Myanmar nationals.

It's worth noting that the Mizoram government had previously undertaken efforts to profile Myanmar nationals and issued identity cards to them independently.