KUKI-CHIN REFUGEES

Kuki-Chin, the Christian community from Bangladesh’s Chittagong hill tracts, share close ethnic ties with people in Mizoram.

The first tranche of around 300 refugees came in November 2022.

The Mizoram government has approved setting up of temporary shelters and other amenities for the community, following an action by the Bangladesh Rapid Action Battalion against some insurgents belonging to the group.

The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) seeks to provide citizenship only to Hindu, Christian, Jain, Parsi, Sikh, and Buddhist immigrants persecuted in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

India is not a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention of 1951.

Its 1967 Protocol and does not recognise refugees, and the undocumented migrants are liable to be prosecuted for violating the Foreigners Act.

Other than the Kuki-Chin, there are over 40,000 refugees from Myanmar who have taken shelter in Mizoram since a military coup in the neighbouring country in February 2021.

The Kuki, Chin, and Mizo people together are called the Zo people.