AIZAWL: More than 2,000 people from Manipur have fled to Mizoram and sought shelter in the state following ethnic violence in the neighbouring state, a senior official in the state Home Department said on Monday.
State home commissioner and secretary H Lalengmawia said that a total of 2056 internally displaced people from Manipur have entered Mizoram and taken refuge in different parts of the state till Monday evening.
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Saitual district, which shares a border with Manipur, has the highest number of displaced people from the neighbouring state at 827, followed by Assam border Kolasib district at 757, he said.
Besides, 402 people have fled to Aizawl district, while 59 people have taken shelter in east Mizoram’s Champhai district near the Myanmar border, four in Serchhip district and 7 others in Khawzawl district, he said.
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The senior official said that the ethnic Zo (Mizo) people are given shelter by their local relatives and the government is making massive efforts to provide temporary shelters.
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Another official also said that a number of the displaced people are lodged at makeshift camps set up by villages.
According to Lalengmawia, 86 more state residents stranded in Imphal, have been evacuated to the state on Monday.
While 34 people arrived in Aizawl travelling by bus after they landed at Guwahati airport on Sunday, the remaining 52 people were airlifted from Imphal via Kolkata, he said.
On Tuesday, 29 more people will be flown to Guwahati, from where they will be picked up by bus, he said.
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The senior official also said that the government is making massive efforts to evacuate the remaining 68 state’s residents, who are still stranded in the neighbouring state.
On Monday, at least 45 state residents, mostly students, were successfully evacuated to the state from Imphal and Churachandpur.
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