Aizawl: As the civil war in Myanmar rages on, a fresh batch of more than 1,322 refugees have entered India in the past week, fleeing across the border into Mizoram, state home department officials confirmed to ThePrint.
The refugees are taking shelter in villages along the Indo-Myanmar border in Champhai district — Khuangphah and Vaikhawtlang, among others.
“We have new arrivals at Vaikhawtlang and Khuangphah since last Friday. We have had a fresh influx from Khawmawi to Zokhawthar this ( Wednesday) morning. We are hoping they will go back after a few days,” Champhai Deputy Commissioner James Lalrinchhana told ThePrint.
Sources in Mizoram Police told ThePrint that the influx of Myanmar refugees follows clashes in the neighbouring country’s northern Chin State between the Myanmar military, supposedly aided by the insurgent group, Zomi Revolutionary Army – Eastern Command (ZRA-EC), and the anti-regime forces led by the Chin National Army (CNA).
The CNA is the armed wing of Myanmar’s long-standing ethnic armed organisation, the Chin National Front.
Media reports in Myanmar quoted CNA spokesperson Salai Htet Ni saying the armed group Sunday captured Cikha, a small town near the Indo-Myanmar border in Chin State’s Tonzang Township. Tonzang is located around 130 km from Mizoram, which could be a 4-5 hour bike ride from near the Tiau river, the boundary that divides India and Myanmar.
The CNA and its allies have been reportedly fighting regime forces in the area since the second week of May, following which the Myanmar military carried out multiple airstrikes in Tonzang town, Myanmar media reported.
Though a detailed estimate of casualties on both sides is yet to be ascertained, a fighter of the Chinland Defence Force of Hualngoram, one of the resistance groups involved in the anti-coup offensives, was killed in the clashes Saturday. Identified as Hmangaihzaua (26), the fighter was accorded a hero’s funeral at the border village of Rihkhawdar in Myanmar’s Falam district Monday, a CDF-Hualngoram member told ThePrint.
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Indian authorities keep an eye
Even as the Mizos feel obliged to provide refuge — moved by ethnic and kin ties across the border, as well as human compassion — the Indian government is concerned that the growing tide of ethnic-Chin refugees may bring the war in Myanmar with them.
In the past three months, security forces have apprehended a number of Myanmar nationals living in Mizoram — in cases of illegal smuggling of weapons, contraband and other items.
In an operation Monday, the paramilitary force of Assam Rifles, tasked with guarding the international border in Mizoram, apprehended a CDF cadre near Tuipang village in Siaha district with ammunition and war-like stores.
According to the AR, the Mobile Vehicle Check Post (MVCP) at Tuipang road junction was alerted on receiving specific inputs, and an operation was launched that led to the arrest. The CDF cadre was riding a Chinese-made Kenbo bike, and carrying a large cargo, the AR said in a statement.
“A thorough search of the individual led to the recovery of 170 rounds of 12 Gauge Shotgun cartridges, fourteen Baofeng radio sets, some tactical gear, and fourteen radio set chargers,” the statement confirmed.
With the latest influx, the number of Myanmar refugees taking shelter in Champhai district alone has risen to 15,821, which includes 6,128 children. The total number of refugees in the state is over 35,440, according to data compiled by the district administration.
Apart from those that crossed into Mizoram last week, sources said more than 5,000 people have been left displaced in the recent clashes in Myanmar, of which many have fled to the jungles close to the border.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)