GUWAHATI: A fresh exodus of Chin refugees from Myanmar into Mizoram started on Sunday evening amid a fierce gunfight between the Myanmar military and some ethnic armed groups in the country.
The violence, which left at least one person dead and many others injured, broke out at Khawmawi in Myanmar. The place is close to Zokhawthar, a town in Mizoram’s Champhai district.
Sources said the gunbattle erupted after armed groups Kuki Independent Army, Kuki National Army, and Chinland Defence Force had overrun a Myanmar Army camp in a joint attack on Sunday evening.
Champhai Deputy Commissioner (District Magistrate) James Lalrinchhana told this newspaper that an estimated 1,500 Myanmar nationals fled to Mizoram in the wake of the fresh violence. He said the refugees were from Khawmawi.
“There are injuries among people across the border. Sixteen injured people have fled to our side,” Lalrinchhana said.
He said the injured were being treated in Champhai and if any one of them required advanced medical treatment, he or she would be referred to a hospital in the state capital Aizawl.
Locals claimed an injured person had succumbed to his injuries. Lalrinchhana said he had no such information.
Stating that no Myanmar refugee was hit by a bullet inside Mizoram, he said he had received reports that the fighting in Myanmar stopped on Monday.
He said the refugees were sheltered in schools and community halls and being taken care of by the district administration, NGOs, and villagers.
“Some will go to live in the houses of their relatives. It is a humanitarian crisis and it is important to give everyone food, clothing, and shelter,” he said.
“Usually, when things normalize, they go back. We hope the situation in Myanmar will improve soon,” he further said.
The influx of the Chin refugees into Mizoram started in the early part of 2021 after the coup by the military in Myanmar. In the past two and half years, more than 37,000 refugees fled to Mizoram. They are now staying in different parts of the state including Aizawl.
Chins, Mizos, Kukis, Zomis, Hmars, and Kuki-Chins are ethnic cousins, belonging to the Zo community. Chins and Mizos living near the international border have their relatives on each other’s side.