Guwahati: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma that the Centre would provide rice worth Rs 10 crore to the state government for the relief and support of refugees currently sheltered in the Northeastern state.
A senior official of the Mizoram Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said that during a meeting with the union home minister on Friday evening in New Delhi, Lalduhoma informed Shah that nearly 40,000 refugees from Manipur, Bangladesh and Myanmar are presently residing in Mizoram.
“In response, the Union Home Minister informed the Chief Minister that the Central government would provide rice worth Rs 10 crore to the government of Mizoram for the relief and support of the refugees,” an official statement issued on Saturday said.
According to the CMO official, Lalduhoma pointed out that under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme, Mizoram has not been receiving assistance, unlike several other Northeastern states, because the state has remained peaceful and free from insurgency-related law and order problems.
The Chief Minister requested that assistance under the SRE Scheme also be extended to Mizoram to strengthen the state government's efforts in combating drug trafficking, trans-border crimes and emerging cybercrime threats.
More than 30,000 Myanmar nationals, including women and children, have taken shelter in Mizoram in different phases following the military coup in the neighbouring country in February 2021.
The refugees, most of whom belong to communities sharing ethnic, cultural and familial ties with the people of Mizoram, are currently staying in various districts of the state with support from local communities, civil society organisations and the state government.
In addition, around 2,365 refugees from Bangladesh are currently sheltered in four districts of Mizoram after they fled the Chittagong Hill Tracts region in the wake of ethnic unrest and security concerns in the mountainous areas of the neighbouring country.
