Aizawl, July 7 (IANS) Over 4,000 people, including women and children, from Myanmar fled to Mizoram in the last few days and have now taken shelter in two locations of Champhai district, officials said on Monday.

Mizoram’s Champhai district officials said that the refugees started entering the state through the Zokhawthar areas of eastern Mizoram’s Champhai district since July 3 following violence between two ethnic groups in the neighbouring country.

The last batch of around 300 refugees entered Zokhawthar on Sunday.

Mizoram’s border town Zokhawthar and Myanmar’s Khawmawi village are separated by the Tiau river, which flows along the frontiers of the two countries.

The refugees came from three villages of Chin state of Myanmar – Khawmawi, Rihkhawdar and Lianhna.

The tribal refugees, now live with their relatives in Mizoram and in government buildings.

Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma’s political adviser Punte, who visited bordering Champhai district on Sunday, on Monday confirmed the recent arrival of refugees numbering over 4,000.

“Like the old refugees, the state government would provide food and shelter to the new refugees too,” Punte told IANS.

Sources said that Chin National Defence Force (CNDF) and Chinland Defence Force (CDF), both anti-military ethnic groups, were engaged in a series of gun battles between June 28 and July 5 over domination of territory.

However, the situation along the India-Myanmar border with Mizoram remained calm since Sunday and no sound of firing was heard in the trouble-torn areas.

The Assam Rifles have been guarding the India-Myanmar border and recently stepped up their security to prevent smuggling of drugs and various contrabands and cross border movement of militants.

However, Myanmar nationals intending to reach India and take shelter in Mizoram are allowed to enter by the security forces on humanitarian grounds.

After a military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, refugees including women and children from the neighbouring country started coming to Mizoram seeking shelter and now their numbers have increased to around 32,000.

The refugees, mostly Chins have almost full ethnic similarity with the majority Mizos of Mizoram, now sheltered in camps, in most of the 11 districts in the northeastern state, which has an unfenced 510 km border with Myanmar.

–IANS

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