Urging the Centre to understand the position of Mizoram in giving shelter to Zo refugees from neighbouring Bangladesh, Chief Minister Lalduhoma has told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that his government would not be able to push them back, an official statement said.

An official of the State Home Department said that nearly 2,000 Zo ethnic people from Bangladesh have taken refuge in Mizoram since 2022.

During a brief meeting with PM Modi in New Delhi on July 6, Mr. Lalduhoma informed him that his government cannot push back or deport Zo ethnic people from Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), the statement said.

Mizos share ethnic ties with the refugees from Bangladesh.

He informed the Prime Minister that many people belonging to the Bawm tribe, one of the ethnic Mizo tribes, from Bangladesh have taken shelter in Mizoram since 2022, while many of them are still trying to enter the State.

They started seeking refuge in Mizoram in November 2022 following a military offensive by the Bangladeshi Army against the Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA), an insurgent group.