Mizoram govt plans to relocate displaced refugees to single location

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The Mizoram government is planning to relocate all refugees taking shelter in different parts of the state and to bring them in one place, according to Lalmuanpuia Punte, political adviser to the chief minister.

Punte on Thursday convened a meeting with officials of south Mizoram's Lawngtlai district to discuss issues concerning over 2,000 Bangladeshi refugees taking shelter in the district.

He told the meeting that proper guidelines should be formulated to prevent the refugees from settling and shifting anywhere they want.

Punte said that the government is taking steps to relocate and bring the refugees together in one place rather than be scattered in different villages for administrative convenience.

The plan will also help the government in providing humanitarian assistance in a more convenient way, he said.

Punte further said that plans are afoot to relocate 2,014 refugees from Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) currently taking shelter in different villages in Lawngtlai district to four villages within the district.

Lawngtlai shares border with both Myanmar and Bangladesh and the southernmost district currently hosts 6,030 refugees from Myanmar and 84 internally displaced people from Manipur besides 2,014 Bangladeshi refugees, according to deputy commissioner Cheemala Siva Gopal Reddy.

Earlier, Young Mizo Association (YMA), the largest civil society organisation in the state, urged the state government to constitute a systematic mechanism, including proper shelter homes, for housing and handling over 42,000 refugees and internally displaced people.

According to the state Home department, over 33,000 Myanmar nationals, including 12,572 children, are currently taking shelter across all the 11 districts of the state.

Besides, 7,756 internally displaced people from Manipur also took shelter in different parts of the state, it said.