How long Mizoram will bear refugee burden depends on geopolitics, says Lalduhoma
Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma stated that the state's refugee burden depends on regional geopolitics and ethnic ties. He emphasized that humanitarian concerns and ethnic affiliations prevent the state from supporting border fencing.
Why it matters
The situation highlights the complex intersection of ethnic identity, national security, and humanitarian crisis in Northeast India.
The geopolitical situation in the neighbourhood will decide how long Mizoram will bear the burden of refugees from Bangladesh, Manipur and Myanmar, Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma said on Wednesday (October 14, 2026).
Political parties, including the Zoram People’s Movement that he heads, and social organisations in Mizoram continued to be against fencing the India-Myanmar border due to ethnic affiliations, he also said.
The Mizoram government had inherited fiscal liabilities when his party took over the reins in 2023, Mr. Lalduhoma said. The liabilities increased when the Chin people began crossing over after the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, followed by the Bawms of Bangladesh due to a military offensive.
The expenditure on the refugees increased after the ethnic conflict between Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities erupted in Manipur in May 2023. The Chin, Bawm and Kuki-Zo people are ethnic cousins of the dominant Mizos of Mizoram.
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