Aizawl: More than 29,500 Myanmar nationals are currently sheltering in Mizoram, with 98.90% biometrically enrolled by the state government, Home Minister K. Sapdanga told the state legislature on Thursday.
According to records maintained by the state Home Department until August 20, a total of 29,575 Myanmar refugees are living in different parts of Mizoram, Sapdanga said.
The state government has spent Rs 40.60 lakh on the biometric enrolment of refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh, while the Centre has also provided financial assistance for the care and maintenance of Myanmar refugees, he said.
Biometric enrolment of Myanmar and Bangladesh refugees began in the last week of July 2025 following a directive from the Centre. The exercise is being carried out through the Foreigners Identification Portal & Biometric Enrollment system.
Most of the Myanmar nationals in Mizoram are from Chin state and fled the country following the military coup in February 2021. Asylum seekers from Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts, mostly belonging to the Bawm tribe, arrived in Mizoram after a military offensive against an ethnic insurgent group in 2022.
More than 2,000 people from Bangladesh are currently sheltering in Mizoram, officials said.
The Chin people of Myanmar and the Bawm tribe of Bangladesh share close ethnic ties with the Mizos.
Sapdanga also said the state government was examining measures to strengthen police infrastructure along the Mizoram-Myanmar border.
The existing Hnahlan police beat post in Champhai district near the Myanmar border is being considered for upgradation into a full-fledged police station, he said.
The state government has also proposed to recruit 385 personnel in the police force during the current year, Sapdanga said.
The proposed recruitment includes 15 Sub-Inspectors (Unarmed), 10 Assistant Sub-Inspectors (Unarmed), 10 Assistant Sub-Inspectors (Ministerial), 150 Constables (Unarmed) and 200 Constables (Armed).