Central government will provide rice worth Rs 10 crore to support nearly 40,000 refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh, and displaced people from Manipur currently taking shelter in Mizoram. The Government of India gave assurance after Chief Minister Lalduhoma highlighted the humanitarian challenges faced by the state in accommodating refugees and sought the Centre's support during a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Friday.
During the meeting held at the Union Home Minister's office, Lalduhoma informed Shah that Mizoram is currently providing shelter to nearly 40,000 refugees from Myanmar, Bangladesh, and internally displaced people from Manipur.
He said that the state government has been making every possible effort to provide humanitarian assistance to the refugees and stressed the need for urgent support from the Centre, it said.
Responding to the request, Shah informed the chief minister that the Centre would provide Rs 10 crore worth of rice to aid relief efforts and help meet the food requirements of the refugees residing across the state, the statement said.
Over 28,000 Myanmar nationals, mostly from Chin state, have been taking shelter in Mizoram since February 2021 following the military coup in the neighbouring country, while about 2,300 asylum seekers belonging to the ethnic Bawm tribe, one of the Mizo tribes, from Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts, fled to the state after a military offensive against an ethnic insurgent group in 2022, officials said.
Additionally, nearly 7,000 Kuki-Zo people from Manipur displaced by ethnic violence in May 2023 also took shelter in Mizoram, they said.
The Chin, Bawm, and Zo-Kuki people share close ethnic ties with the Mizo people.
The official statement also said that the Shah and Lalduhoma also discussed a range of development and security-related matters concerning Mizoram during the meeting.
The chief minister urged the Centre to extend funds under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme to Mizoram to strengthen the government's efforts in combating drug trafficking and cybercrime, it said.
Lalduhoma pointed out that Mizoram has not been receiving assistance, unlike other northeastern states under the scheme, because of its peaceful security environment.
In response, Shah advised the Mizoram government to submit more project proposals under the PM-DeVINE (Prime Minister's Development Initiative for North Eastern Region) Scheme and assured support to pursue the proposals from his end, the statement added.
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