Mizoram: Vaphai villagers build relief camp for Myanmar refugees

Guwahati: Residents of Vaphai village in Mizoram's Champhai district, near the Myanmar border, are building a relief camp for 42 Myanmar refugees currently staying in a local middle school.

The school is set to reopen on January 7.

Vaphai village council president Rengkhuma stated that these refugees fled Hrumhrang village in Myanmar’s Chin state and are temporarily staying at Fiaratui Middle School.

Once the new camp is ready, they will be relocated there.

Plans are also underway to construct another camp for 47 refugees from ‘K’ Haimual village in Falam township, who are currently housed in the village community hall.

In total, 89 refugees from Chin state are taking shelter in Vaphai. The latest group arrived on November 28, crossing the Tiau river into Saikhumphai hamlet, before being moved to Vaphai two days later.

The Hrumhrang refugees arrived in mid-December and were temporarily placed in the school, as the community hall was already full.

With no state support, local villagers and Assam Rifles in Vaphai are providing assistance, including rice, lentils, cooking oil, sugar, and milk, under the coordination of the Khawbung Block Development Officer.

The refugees said they fled after their villages were hit by airstrikes from Myanmar military jets, gyrocopters, and drones, followed by ground attacks in which homes were burned and livestock killed.

They added that the offensive coincided with the military’s announcement of elections, with polling held in Tedim and Hakha on December 28, and a second phase scheduled for January 11 in Falam, Tonzang, and Thantlang.

They claimed the attacks were intended to intimidate civilians into voting and recapture military camps previously captured by Chin resistance groups.