Myanmar refugees seeking sanctuary in Mizoram concerned for unpredictable situation at border

The situation is still tense following the recent airstrike by the Myanmar army in the neighboring areas of Myanmar, but there haven’t been any reports of new violent incidents along the Indo-Myanmar border. The last border village from the Indian side is Zokhawthar in Mizoram’s Champhai district. Locals there report that things are now generally peaceful.

Up to 5000 citizens of Myanmar fled their country through the international border and sought refuge in the Zokhawthar area after the army’s airstrike; many of them have since returned. Rama, a native of the Zokhawthar area and a resident of the Indo-Myanmar border region, told ANI that the border region is currently peaceful.

“It’s unpredictable; sometimes it’s peaceful and within a minute you don’t know what will happen. Right now the situation is peaceful, but it was not good till the day before yesterday,” Rama said.

The Tiau River bridge, which connects Zokhawthar in Mizoram’s Champhai district to the Chin State of Myanmar, is a vital link that Indian security personnel are keeping a close eye on as citizens from both countries cross it.

But, Zothangliana, a young resident of the Zokhawthar area who also witnessed the most recent airstrike by the Myanmar army, claimed that the day’s events were terrible overall and that he and other residents of the Zokhawthar area also witnessed the bombing of neighboring areas of Myanmar by the Myanmar army.