AIZAWL, Nov 25: As many as 1,240 people
from Myanmar’s restive Arakan state have
crossed the border and taken shelter in neighbouring
Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district, officials
said today.
The people who crossed over yesterday
were mostly Buddhists and Christians, and they
speak the same tribal language as the locals.
They fled their homes after the Myanmarese
Army clashed with the ‘Arakan Army’ militants
recently, they said.
Lawngtlai deputy commissioner Arun T
told PTI over phone that elaborate security
arrangements were in place and personnel from
the Assam Rifles and state police were deployed
in the area. The district administration has arranged food and medical supplies for the
Arakanese, he said.
The government officials, on condition of
anonymity, said that 500 people took shelter in
Laitlang village while Zochachhuah, Hmawngbuchhuah
and Dumzautlang villages hosted 420,
200 and 120 people, respectively.
“Several of them have put up at their relatives’
place while the others were provided
accommodation in village community halls and
school classrooms,” they said.
This is the fourth instance in recent months
of Myanmarese people entering the state, the
officials said, adding that the Arakanese have
claimed that they had heard firing on Thursday
night. – PTI
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