AIZAWL, June 25: The Mizoram government is gearing up to launch a comprehensive biometric enrolment drive for over 32,000 Myanmar nationals currently seeking refuge in the state, with the exercise expected to commence in July. Officials from the State Home Department confirmed that the enrolment will be conducted using the Foreigner Identification Portal developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
State Home Secretary Vanlalmawia stated that district authorities have been instructed to complete all necessary preparations, with training sessions for district-level teams already conducted last week. “We are aiming to begin the collection of biometric and demographic details next month,” he said.
The initiative will be coordinated by District Level Committees on Displaced Persons led by respective Deputy Commissioners and overseen by a State Level Committee chaired by Home Minister K Sapdanga.
Initial delays in the process were attributed to the portal’s original design, which was tailored for deportation of illegal immigrants. However, following revisions by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the system has now been adapted to register displaced persons. “Those fleeing Myanmar are not illegal migrants but officially recognised as displaced persons,” Vanlalmawia clarified.
NIC engineers are expected to provide further training this week to district officials on the updated system.
According to current government data, Mizoram shelters 32,419 displaced individuals from Myanmar. Champhai district, bordering Myanmar, hosts the largest number at 13,586, followed by Lawngtlai (6,017), Siaha (5,036), and Aizawl (3,669). Kolasib district, bordering Assam, records the lowest figure with just 129 refugees.
