India, Bangladesh establish contacts as more Kuki-Chin refugees are expected to enter Mizoram | Popgen Tech

Community members from the Chittagong Hill Tract area of ​​Bangladesh fled the country after the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) began a crackdown on Kuki-Chin fighters. File | Photo credit: The Hindu

Ten days after the first batch of more than 270 Kuki-Chin refugees crossed into India fearing an attack by Bangladeshi security forces, government officials estimate that 150 more refugees are expected to seek shelter in Mizoram in the next few days. . A source said that India and Bangladesh are aware of the unique gravity of the issue and are in touch with each other.

A senior government official said The Hindu that 21 Kuki-Chin members entered Mizoram on November 27, taking the total number of refugees to 293 so far.

While civil society groups and the Mizoram Government have arranged for the refugees to stay in schools in Mizoram, the Union Home Ministry is yet to take a concrete decision on their repatriation.

A government official said that since India is not a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol and does not recognize refugees, undocumented immigrants may be prosecuted for violating the Aliens Act.

Community members from the Chittagong Hill Tract area of ​​Bangladesh fled the country after the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) began a crackdown on Kuki-Chin fighters, an armed wing of the Kuki Chin National Front, a political body that seeks various quality. protection, and protection, for the community.

Fighters of the Kuki-Chin National Front received financial support from Jama’atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya (JAFHS), a fundamentalist organization in Bangladesh, informed sources shared with The Hindu. Dhaka believes that the Kuki-Chin fighters had weapons training but lacked financial resources, which were supplied to them by the JAFHS.

“We believe that the religious fundamentalist group had access to finances that it extended to the Kuki-Chin groups. Some members of the group revealed this fact during interrogation by the anti-terrorist forces of the Bangladesh Government,” a source familiar with the network said. financial between the various groups that are active in the region said.

Bangladesh has a zero tolerance policy towards terrorism and extremism and they have kept JAFHS under pressure, preventing them from becoming a major armed group. Concerned agencies have warned of the development after the fundamentalist group joined forces with the Kuki-Chin National Front.

Bangladesh launched a special armed campaign in October to capture KCNF cadres from the Chittagong Hill Tracts, which are known to have several ethnic groups. Officials dealing with the issue said that KCNF and FAFHS have a similar ambition in creating a space for their operations in the strategically important region located at the trijunction of Myanmar-Bangladesh and India.