Context:
As another round of refugee crisis brews on the Mizoram-Bangladesh border, several members of the Kuki-Chin community were “pushed back” by the Border Security Force (BSF).
Relevance:
GS II: International Relations
Dimensions of the Article:
- Who are the Kuki Chins?
- Insurgency Roots
- India’s Stand
Who are the Kuki Chins?
- The Kuki Chins are a group of people native to the Mizo hills in Myanmar, Mizoram, and Bangladesh. They are also known as the Zo people.
- The Kuki Chins in Bangladesh are settled in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, which borders Myanmar, Tripura, Mizoram, and the Chittagong district.
- Around 30,000 Kuki Chin refugees from Myanmar have fled to Mizoram since 2021 due to the military crackdown in Myanmar and loss of identity in Bangladesh.
Insurgency Roots
- The Kuki militancy is rooted in conflicts of ethnic identity, including the desire for self-determination and the inter-community conflict with the Nagas in Manipur over land and identity.
- These conflicts have resulted in violent standoffs, including village burnings and civilian deaths.
India’s Stand
- India is prepared to provide temporary shelter, food, and medicine to Kuki Chin refugees from Bangladesh on humanitarian grounds.
-Source: The Hindu
