Aizawl: Mizoram Home Minister K. Sapdanga on Thursday said the state government must formulate a clear policy to address the influx of Zo ethnic people and other refugees fleeing Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) into Mizoram, saying the issue required urgent and serious consideration.
Speaking at a seminar in Aizawl titled The Potential Impact on Mizoram by the Increasing Subjugation of Tribal People in Bangladesh and the Chittagong Accord, Sapdanga said the growing displacement of tribal communities from Bangladesh had both humanitarian and security implications for Mizoram. The seminar was organised by the vernacular daily The Zozam Times.
The Home Minister said Zo communities living in the hill regions of Bangladesh are facing increasing pressure from majority communities, leading to the occupation of their ancestral lands and forcing many to flee because of security concerns.
He said members of the Chakma and Bru communities were also among those displaced, adding that churches, voluntary organisations and political parties in Mizoram had been extending assistance while keeping the state’s security considerations in mind.
“In this situation, it is necessary to carefully consider how Zo ethnic people and other communities fleeing Bangladesh should be received and accommodated. The government must devote serious thought to this matter,” Sapdanga said.
He expressed hope that the seminar would help the government, tribal organisations, churches and civil society better understand the challenges arising from the situation.
Political adviser to the Chief Minister and MLA Lalmuanpuia Punte, who also attended the seminar, said it was important to understand the circumstances of people living in neighbouring regions and the reasons for their movement into Mizoram so that the state could respond appropriately.
Mizoram’s districts of Lawngtlai, Lunglei and Mamit share a 318-km international border with Bangladesh.
According to the State Home Department, more than 2,000 members of the Bawm community, one of the Zo tribes from Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts, have taken shelter in Mizoram since 2022 following military operations against an ethnic insurgent group.
Mizoram’s largest civil society organisation, the Young Mizo Association (YMA), along with student bodies such as the Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) and the Mizo Students’ Union (MSU), have also raised concerns over the alleged influx of undocumented migrants, particularly from the Chakma community, from Bangladesh.
The seminar came amid renewed concerns over the situation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts following a recent report by the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), an indigenous rights organisation based in the region.
The report alleged that at least 154 people were affected by human rights violations during the first six months of 2026 across 57 documented incidents, including 10 deaths, attacks on civilians, land disputes, alleged arbitrary military operations, violence against women and continued militarisation.
According to the PCJSS, 24 incidents involved members of the security forces and law enforcement agencies, while 12 were attributed to armed groups it described as army-backed, including factions of the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF), the Marma Liberation Party and the Kuki-Chin National Front.
The report also blamed Bengali settlers, land grabbers and Rohingya militants for 10 incidents involving killings, assaults and land disputes.
The PCJSS criticised Bangladesh’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led government, alleging that it had made little progress in implementing the 1997 Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord and had continued to rely on heavy military deployment rather than political dialogue to address the region’s long-running conflict.
The organisation also questioned the administration of the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs following the resignation of Minister Dipen Dewan in June. Among the allegations detailed in the report were military operations in indigenous villages, destruction of homes and farmland, establishment of new Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) camps, land acquisition disputes, abductions for ransom, extortion, attacks linked to ethnic tensions and violence against indigenous women and girls.