GUWAHATI: A fresh exodus of Chin refugees from Myanmar into Mizoram started on Sunday evening amid a fierce gunfight between the Myanmar military and several ethnic armed groups in the conflict-hit country. The violence on Sunday that 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 where Tiau, a small river that flows between the two places, is the international border.
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 from Khawmawi.
“There are injuries among people across the border. Sixteen injured people have fled to our side,” Lalrinchhana said. Lalrinchhana said the refugees were sheltered in schools and community halls.Locals claimed an injured person succumbed to his injuries. However, the deputy commissioner said no Myanmar refugee was hit by a bullet inside Mizoram while he had received reports that the fighting in Myanmar stopped on Monday.
“Usually, when things normalise, 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-a-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 near the border have their relatives on each other’s side.