As the first Silchar-Sylhet festival was taking place in Barak Valley, Assam, celebrating close ties between India and Bangladesh on December 2, 2022, Muana* and 14 other people were fleeing Bangladesh for India, fearing for their lives. Their destination? Same as those fleeing from the brutal military coup in Myanmar.
Mizoram.
The state has been a haven for over 40,000 refugees from Myanmar. More refugees arrived in the past week, but this time, it was from a different side of the border. Armed conflicts between Bangladesh Anti-Terrorism Unit, Rapid Action Battalion and ethnic insurgents Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA), Kuki Chin refugees from Chittagong Hill Tract (CHT) in Bangladesh have meant civilians are seeking safety in the border villages of Mizoram.
Muana was among 15 people that made it across the Indo-Bangla border on Wednesday. “They beat us up. All of us bent our heads and cried, seeking God’s help. They thrashed both men and women. We were in so much pain that we needed anaesthesia,” taking a long pause, Muana broke down on the phone as he spoke to EastMojo.
He was referring to the Border Security Force (BSF). According to Muana, when his group were camping at the border, BSF personnel found them and asked them to go back.
“We told them we couldn’t go back. In our villages, Rapid Action is capturing many people, especially men. If the men don’t go, they take their wives and children and put them in a jail-like camp. We said they could shoot us, but we would not go back. So they beat us up, they did not spare the women, but luckily, they spared the children. We were all crying in pain.”
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He recalled how one village folk’s escape from capture resulted in Rapid Action capturing his wife.
In the beginning, Muana’s group consisted of 121 people. But in the end, they were only 15. Everyone ran for their lives, some returned to their villages, and only Muana’s group made it safely across the border. One among them, a 60-year-old woman is reported missing. She neither returned to the village nor made it across the border.
“We camped in the forest for one week. Our food had run out, and we were starving. But luckily, one of our friends had an Indian SIM. He had no balance to make a call, so we gave missed calls to people from Mizoram. They brought food and saved us,” he told EastMojo.
The group of 15 consisted of children as young as two-and-a-half years old to senior citizens aged 65. Back home, families were going hungry as the Rapid Action group would not let them engage in any transaction, even selling or buying food items. The majority are daily labourers and farmers.
NGOs from Mizoram, including the apex NGO Central Young Mizo Association (CYMA) and student body Mizo Students Union (MSU), as well as the Zo Reunification Organisation (ZORO), a group representing the Zo Indigenous people, have spoken in strong support of the refugees.
As per the latest reports, about 310 refugees from Bangladesh have entered the country. The youngest is around six months old, while the oldest is about 60.
The Mizo Students Union, which visited the border village of Parva 3 to assess the situation, found that the refugees urgently needed medical care and checkup as they had been close to starvation while camping in the forest. The students union released a statement saying they strongly condemned the act of the BSF for hurting the refugees and destroying whatever food they had left.
MSU General Secretary Lalramhluna Fanai said they had received input of over 800 refugees camping in the jungle with hunger and fear. They demanded that the Mizoram government look into resolving any issue these refugees might have in entering the state, saying they are our Zo indigenous brothers and sisters. As per MSU reports, the Rapid Action army in Bangladesh is detaining/arresting men and molesting women.
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The locals set up a Refugee organising committee in Parva Village to look into the refugees’ safety and welfare in Parva village. They are being provided shelter in a community hall, a school, an Aganwadi centre and a sub-centre.
Lalrammuana Renthlei, organisation secretary, told EastMojo, “Our brothers and sisters in Bangladesh belong to the sub-tribes of the Zo people. Our forefathers settled in what is now known as Bangladesh but back then, it was all considered Mizoram. They are indigenous Zo people. They have nowhere else to go but to the home of their indigenous people. We must look after them and provide them safety.”
The secretary, who hails from Parva 3, said they are working day and night as the refugees now outnumber the village’s population of two hundred and fifty. “We are farmers and daily labourers, but we have left our work for now. We are looking after the refugees and managing somehow because people are sending aid. The government hasn’t extended any financial help or resources. We are going to keep trying our best. Even if a thousand people come, we will continue to look after them,” he said.
On the action taken by the BSF, Renthlei said, “We assume that they received orders from the Central government. When we visited the BSF camp, their captain told us they were executing the Central government’s order. Unless they retract the order, we have to carry out our duty.”
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Laldinsanga, Vice President of Mizo Students Union who was assessing the ground situation, told EastMojo, “Our brothers and sisters are in peril. First, they have to face the fearful Rapid Action army. They have to wait for a chance to escape when they are not watching. Once they cross the border, they are in fear of the BSF. So, they stay in the jungle for days and days, trying to escape both these forces and save their lives.”
L Ramdinliana Renthlei, ZORO Youth President, also condemned the BSF action, saying, “Many of them are still stuck in the jungle because the BSF will not let them cross the border. Even though the BSF are carrying out their duty, ZORO strongly condemns their act of restricting people who are fleeing for their lives.”
ZORO had earlier released a statement on an alleged alignment of the Bangladesh army with the Myanmar insurgent group Arakan Army. The KNA has been demanding a separate state for the Kuki Chin people. As per reports received by EastMojo, clashes between Rapid Action and KNA have led to many ethnic civilians being kidnapped.
According to a report in Al Jazeera, the anti-terrorism unit, Rapid Action Battalion in Bangladesh formed in 2004, “has been accused of serious human rights violations and abuse of power.” They are accused of extra-judicial killings and linked to politically motivated arrests, killings and enforced disappearances.
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