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Scroll.in
2 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
3 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
3 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.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Fresh wave of Myanmar refugees crosses into Mizoram after armed conflict
As clashes between two anti-junta armed groups intensified in Myanmar thousands of refugees have come to the neighbouring Mizoram . The fresh batch of refugees have started coming since July 2. Gun battle had erupted between the Chin National Defence Force and the Chinland Defence Force-Hualngoram over control of Chin state in Myanmar. A senior official who does not want to be named said that around 3000 to 4000 refugees had come since the fight started on July 2. ' They are being provided with food, water and shelter.' Refugees are coming to Zokhawthar and Saikhumphai Village bordering Myanmar in Champhai district. According to a state Home Department official, a total of 33,004 Myanmar nationals, including 12,572 children, are currently sheltered in different camps, government buildings and rented houses in all 11 districts of Mizoram. They took shelter in Mizoram in phases after the military takeover in the conflict-ridden country in February 2021. Over 2,000 tribals from the Chittagong Hill Tracts of southeast Bangladesh also took shelter in Mizoram in November 2022 after they fled from their villages in CHT following ethnic troubles in the neighbouring country. Around 7,800 refugees belonging to the Kuki-Zo community from Manipur have also taken shelter in several districts of Mizoram after the ethnic violence broke out in the neighbouring state in May last year. The refugees from Myanmar, Bangladesh and Manipur belong to the Kuki-Zo-Chin-Hmar-Bawm tribal community who also share ethnic, traditional, cultural and linguistic ties with the Mizos of Mizoram. The union home ministry in a communique to the chief secretaries of Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, and the director general of Assam Rifles on March 10 in 2021 stated that there was a probability of large-scale illegal influx into the Indian territory due to the current internal situation in Myanmar. It had earlier issued an advisory to these states and the security forces to stay alert and take appropriate action to prevent a possible influx into Indian territory. The union ministry had also said that state governments had no power to grant refugee status to any foreigners.
Hans India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Over 4,000 Myanmar nationals have taken refuge in Mizoram: Officials
Over 4,000 people, including women and children, from Myanmar fled to Mizoram in the last few days and have now taken shelter in two locations of Champhai district, officials said on Monday. Mizoram's Champhai district officials said that the refugees started entering the state through the Zokhawthar areas of eastern Mizoram's Champhai district since July 3 following violence between two ethnic groups in the neighbouring country. The last batch of around 300 refugees entered Zokhawthar on Sunday. Mizoram's border town Zokhawthar and Myanmar's Khawmawi village are separated by the Tiau river, which flows along the frontiers of the two countries. The refugees came from three villages of Chin state of Myanmar – Khawmawi, Rihkhawdar and Lianhna. The tribal refugees, now live with their relatives in Mizoram and in government buildings. Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma's political adviser Punte, who visited bordering Champhai district on Sunday, on Monday confirmed the recent arrival of refugees numbering over 4,000. 'Like the old refugees, the state government would provide food and shelter to the new refugees too,' Punte told IANS. Sources said that Chin National Defence Force (CNDF) and Chinland Defence Force (CDF), both anti-military ethnic groups, were engaged in a series of gun battles between June 28 and July 5 over domination of territory. However, the situation along the India-Myanmar border with Mizoram remained calm since Sunday and no sound of firing was heard in the trouble-torn areas. The Assam Rifles have been guarding the India-Myanmar border and recently stepped up their security to prevent smuggling of drugs and various contrabands and cross border movement of militants. However, Myanmar nationals intending to reach India and take shelter in Mizoram are allowed to enter by the security forces on humanitarian grounds. After a military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, refugees including women and children from the neighbouring country started coming to Mizoram seeking shelter and now their numbers have increased to around 32,000. The refugees, mostly Chins have almost full ethnic similarity with the majority Mizos of Mizoram, now sheltered in camps, in most of the 11 districts in the northeastern state, which has an unfenced 510 km border with Myanmar.
