By Prasanta Mazumdar
Express News Service
GUWAHATI: A Myanmar-based insurgent group has driven
out nearly 300 people, mostly women and children, from their homes forcing them
to flee to neighbouring Mizoram in search of refuge.
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| File Photo: Arakan Army (AA) |
According to defence
sources, the exodus took place on Friday. The insurgent group, Arakan Army, held
back the male villagers.
The Assam Rifles
said it had received information from the civil administration on Friday about
the influx of a large group of people from Myanmar to southern Mizoram.
Subsequently, it sent two teams to a village, Lungpuk. During profiling, the
teams learnt that there were more than 200 refugees.
Later, the teams
visited another village, Khaikhy, and found 77 more refugees there.
“The refugees
revealed that they were residents of Ralie village in Chin State of Myanmar.
They said they were threatened and pushed out of their homes by Myanmar-based
ethnic insurgent group, Arakan Army, while most of the male villagers were held
back,” a senior Assam Rifles officer told The New Indian Express.
Mizoram home
minister, R Lalzirliana, said the State government was taking care of the
refugees.
“They can travel up
to 15 km from the international border inside India and stay there for some
time. Myanmar and India have an agreement in this regard. But we will soon
inform the Central government about them,” he said.
Lalzirliana pointed
out that the refugees were staying in schools and community halls and the
Mizoram government was providing them food.
Earlier, the Assam
Rifles interacted with Myanmar Army authorities about ensuring a safe return of
the refugees by providing adequate security.
Myanmar has over 20
insurgent outfits. A dozen of them are lying low following signing of ceasefire
agreements with the government two years back. The Arakan Army was founded in
2009 and it is fighting to protect the Arakan people and establish peace,
justice, freedom and development.