Guwahati: Mizoram government has collected the biometric details of around 39 percent of 31,300 Myanmar refugees who are taking shelter in the state.

Since the military coup of February 2021 several refugees are taking shelter in Mizoram. An official in Mizoram government who does not want to be named said around 12,170 refugees’ biometric details are collected.

Following the advice of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the biometric enrolment process has been underway through the 'Foreigners Identification Portal and Biometric Enrolment'.

Besides the Myanmar refugees, around 3,000 migrants from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh have taken shelter in three districts of Mizoram over the past two years.

Along with biometric data, the enrolment process includes the collection of biographical details including names, addresses, parents' names, and any employment histories both in Myanmar and in Mizoram.

The Myanmar refugees, mostly Chin tribes having almost full ethnic and cultural similarity with the majority Mizos of Mizoram while the Bawm, also known as Bawmzo, are a small ethnic group primarily residing in the CHT of Bangladesh, and they have also almost full ethnic and cultural resemblance with the Mizos of Mizoram.