Aizawl: A total of 126 refugees from Bangladesh, who had sought shelter in Mizoram and were initially pushed back, have been handed over to the Mizoram Police by the Border Security Force (BSF).
Home Minister K. Sapdanga informed All India Radio Aizawl that the police had escorted the refugees from the border. After collecting their information, they were taken to Chamdur ‘P’ at around 7 PM on Monday evening for rehabilitation.
Home Minister Sapdanga stated that Chief Minister Lalduhoma will be addressing the issue of the refugees being pushed back to Bangladesh with the Home Ministry. Lalduhoma has already raised the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. Following orders from the Home Ministry, the BSF was instructed to bring the refugees back using their vehicle.
The Home Minister detailed that the refugees were driven to Kamtuli by the BSF as they attempted to send them back to Bangladesh. However, after receiving directives from the Home Ministry, the BSF transported the refugees back from Kamtuli to Chhippui around 4 PM the previous evening. Civil officers and the SDPO, accompanied by YMA leaders, received the refugees in Chamdur.
The initial group of 93 refugees, comprising 32 families, fled from the Chittagong Hill Tracts to Damdep village in Lawngtlai district on Friday night. The group included 43 males, 24 females, and 26 children, with the youngest being a 7-month-old baby, a one-year-old, and a three-year-old. They hailed from villages such as Bethel, Bethlehem, Arthah, New Eden, and Gethsemani in the Chittagong Hill Tracts’ Happy Hills and Zulvarawng regions.
The number of refugees increased to 126 when 33 individuals from an earlier group, who had been sent back by the BSF, joined the initial group. The refugees fled to Mizoram due to the conflict between the Kuki Chin National Front and the Bangladesh government. Previously, the BSF had pushed back a large group of refugees without intervention from the state government, which faced strong criticism from the opposition party and the Zo Reunification Organisation (ZORO).
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ZORO expressed gratitude to the Mizoram government for addressing the plight of the Bangladeshi refugees. East Mojo also published an in-depth report on the refugees’ affliction and questioned the government’s initial silence on the issue.
Also Read | Why is Mizoram silent over treatment of Bangladeshi Chin refugees?