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Time of India
an hour ago
- General
- Time of India
148 more refugees return to Myanmar from Zokhawthar
1 2 Aizawl: With 148 more refugees leaving for Chin state of Myanmar on Sunday, there are hardly over 1,300 refugees taking shelter in India-Myanmar border trade centre in Zokhawthar village of Champhai district bordering Myanmar, a village leader of Zokhawthar said. Zokhawthar village council president Laldinthara said only a few refugees are left in Zokhawthar as the large majority of those who fled Khawmawi, Rikhawdar and nearby villages of western Chin state since last Saturday have returned to their respective villages as the truce between the two rival groups of armed Chin militia held for three days. Laldinthara told TOI over phone that almost all the refugees have returned on Saturday from around 9am to Khawmawi and Rihkhawdar in Chin state. According to police record, at least 3,892 refugees fled their respective villages and were taking shelter in Zokhawthar village since gunfight began on July 5 as Chin National Defence Force (CNDF) attacked and captured eight camps of Chinland Defence Force (CDF)-Hualngoram while 2,319 people returned to Myanmar on Saturday. The total number of refugees who returned to western Chin state of Myanmar rose to 2,568 with only 1,324 remaining in Zokhawthar as of Sunday, police said.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Mizoram border on high alert as fighting in Myanmar intensifies
The Indo-Myanmar border in Mizoram's entire Eastern frontier is on high alert as fighting between rebel groups across the border has intensified, people aware of the matter said. Over the last three years, after the 2021 military coup, over 30,000 Myanmar nationals have entered Mizoram. (Representational image) This has led to at least 5,900 refugees fleeing to India with reports of some of them dying during the trek and some getting injured, who are being treated at hospitals in Mizoram. The Chin National Army and Chin National Defence Force (CNDF) – two factions of the rebel forces that are fighting the Myanmar military junta- are engaged in an intense fight for control of areas in Myanmar just across the border. Officials in Assam Rifles and Mizoram Police said that during one such gunfight, bullets and shelling spilled across to the Indian side in the border town of Zokhawthar in Champhai district. The residents of several villages in other towns across Eastern Mizoram have seen gunfight and grenade attacks happen right in front of them across the porous border. The most intense gunfight, lasting several hours, was reported on Wednesday afternoon, officials said. 'On Saturday, the fighting had started in the Myanmar areas of Rikhawdar, Satawm, and Khawmawi. Over the last two days, the fighting has spread to other parts of Myanmar such as Leilet and Tedim. These too are areas that share a border with Mizoram. There were hours of intense gunfight (small firearms), mortar fire, and grenade attacks. Some of the people injured in the gunfight were also brought to Mizoram state government's district hospital in Champhai,' said one officer, who asked not to be named. At least one refugee, officials said, also died on Sunday while trying to cross the Tiao river, which serves as the border between the two countries. 'We have reports of one Mizoram national also who died in the gunfight earlier this week and three other no-verified cases of drowning,' an official from the home department said. HT tried to contact Champhai's district magistrate and superintendent of police for a response but the two officials were not available for any comments. Over the last three years, after the 2021 military coup, over 30,000 Myanmar nationals have entered Mizoram. But most government agencies working on the ground say that the actual figure could be two or three times the official data Confirming the fresh influx of nearly 6,000 refugees in the last one week, Malsawmliana, general secretary of the Central Young Mizo Association, said, 'Central YMA has extended aid to the refugees displaced by the ongoing misunderstanding and disunity among the Zo ethnic groups in Chin state of Myanmar. ₹3 lakh has been sanctioned to YMA Zokhawthar branch to procure food, while another ₹2 lakh has been sent to Vaphai branch.' YMA is one of Mizoram's most influential civil society organisations, which has been taking care of the refugees since the military coup in Myanmar. Security agencies believe the large influx of refugees could be a potential internal security problem in the coming years. Though there are checkpoint and integrated check posts at different points along the Indo-Myanmar border, through which nationals of both India and Myanmar (living within 10km in border areas) can enter and stay temporarily after submitting specific documents, the refugees are entering through other points along the porous border - most common being the shallow parts of the Tiao river. The Centre has started work to build a border fence along the India-Myanmar border to stop the infiltration. But this is a project, which could take years.
Scroll.in
6 days ago
- Politics
- Scroll.in
About 4,000 refugees flee from Myanmar's Chin state into Mizoram amid renewed conflict
About 4,000 people from Myanmar have crossed into Mizoram's Champai district in recent days following a fresh wave of violence in the neighbouring country's Chin state, The Indian Express reported. After crossing the Tiau River, which divides the two countries, the refugees have taken shelter in the Champhai district's Zokhawthar and Vaphai villages, The Telegraph reported. Most of the refugees have come from the border villages of Khawmawi and Rihkhawdar in Myanmar, which are adjacent to the Champhai district. A conflict broke out on July 2 between two armed groups who have been fighting the Myanmarese military – the Chin National Defence Force and the Chinland Defence Force Hualnogram – prompting thousands to flee into the Indian state. The renewed fighting was reportedly connected to turf wars between the two groups. Lalmuanpuia Punte, the political advisor to Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma, told The Telegraph that about 4,000 refugees had fled the Chin state in Myanmar. Following the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, several Myanmarese persons, mostly from the Chin state, moved to Mizoram. The Chin state and Mizoram share a 510 km long porous border. The Chins of Myanmar and the Mizos share ethnic roots and fall within the broad ethnic grouping of Zo. The two communities speak the same Tibeto-Burman languages, and also follow the same customs, cultures and traditions.
The Hindu
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Ethnic conflict in Myanmar drives 4,000 Chin people to Mizoram
GUWAHATI A battle between two ethnic armed groups in Myanmar has forced some 4,000 Chin people in the country to take refuge in Mizoram. Officials in Mizoram's Champhai district said waves of Myanmar nationals began crossing a border bridge at Zokhawthar and the Tiau River since the gunfights broke out on July 3. The river demarcates a part of the 510 km border between Mizoram and Myanmar. 'The refugees are taking shelter in the houses of their relatives, schools, and community halls. They are concentrated in the Zokhawthar and Vaphai villages,' a district official said, declining to be quoted. The Chins of Myanmar, and the dominant Mizos of Mizoram are members of the greater Zo community, as are the Kukis, Zomis, Hmars, and Kuki-Chins (Bangladesh). It is not unusual for these ethnic groups to have relatives on either side of the border. According to community elders in Zokhawthar, the refugees started trickling in after observing the movement of armed men in areas close to the border less than a week ago. The 'warning shots' erupted into a fierce gunfight on July 5. Security officials guarding the border said the fight was between the Chin National Defence Force (CNDF) and the Chinland Defence Force-Hualngoram (CDF-H) for the control of areas deemed strategic for border trade with India. After two days of exchanging fire, the CNDF was learnt to have captured all eight camps of the CDF-H in the area. The two groups are part of the People's Defence Force that is leading a resistance movement against Myanmar's military junta, which captured power through a coup in 2021. 'Given the volatile situation across the border, we have not asked these refugees, many of them women and children, to go back. Our villagers and members of NGOs such as the Young Mizo Association are looking after the basic needs of the refugees,' the district official said. On Sunday (July 6, 2025), Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma's political adviser Lalmuanpuia Punte reportedly visited the border area to hold talks with the leaders of the two extremist groups for cessation of violence. More than 30,000 refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh have been living in Mizorams since before the arrival of the 4,000 Chin people. About 2,000 Kuki-Chin refugees from Bangladesh arrived two years ago following clashes between their community-based armed ethnic group and Bangladeshi security forces. Apart from the refugees, more than 5,000 Kuki-Zo people displaced by the ethnic violence in adjoining Manipur have also been taking shelter in Mizoram since 2023.
Express Tribune
6 days ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Clashes in Myanmar force thousands to flee into India's northeast
Mizoram's interior minister, K. Sapdanga, confirmed the new arrivals, estimating the number at around 3, Daily Observer Listen to article Thousands of refugees have crossed into India's northeastern state of Mizoram following clashes between two anti-junta armed groups in neighbouring Myanmar, Indian authorities said on Monday. According to a senior security official, the influx began on July 2 after fighting broke out between two rival Chin groups — the Chin National Defence Force (CNDF) and the Chinland Defence Force-Hualngoram (CDF-H) — over control of strategic areas in Myanmar's northwestern Chin State. The official, who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media, said approximately 4,000 refugees had entered Mizoram since the conflict began. Mizoram shares a border with areas in Myanmar controlled by Chin groups. The state has deep ethnic ties with the Chin people and has been a haven for tens of thousands of refugees since Myanmar's military coup in 2021. Read More: Pakistan dispatches first batch of aid for Myanmar quake survivors Mizoram's interior minister, K. Sapdanga, confirmed the new arrivals, estimating the number at around 3,000. 'The fighting is beyond our control. People have come in and on humanitarian grounds, we have to provide drinking water, food and shelter,' Sapdanga told Reuters. As of Sunday night, authorities had documented 3,980 people in two villages — Zokhawthar and Saikhumphai — in Champhai district, according to the official. 'It is a tentative number and keeps changing. Initially, very few people had come, but as the fighting intensified and got closer to the border, more people started coming in,' the official said.
