The government of Mizoram State in northeast India deported 135 Rakhine refugees to Burma on Tuesday.
The people came from northern Rakhine State and Paletwa Township in southern Chin State and took refuge across the Indo-Burma border in the Lawngtlai area of Mizoram.
They first came to the area in 2017 after the Burma Army and the Arakan Army clashed in Paletwa.
“Mizoram authorities deported the displaced people to the border. The Burma Army and other officials picked them up at the border. There was no problem in the transferring process,” Ko John, an ethnic Chin man living in Lawngtlai, told Khonumthung News.
It was first reported that the Rakhine people who had escaped to Lawngtlai would be deported to Chin State on June 15, but poor weather conditions led to it being postponed until June 25. Again, the deportation did not occur because of communication issues. After an agreement between the Burmese and Indian government, the displaced people were sent back to Burma on July 2.