Aizawl, Dec 14 (PTI) More than 15,000 Myanmar nationals have taken refuge in Mizoram following the tensions in the neighbouring country, MNF Rajya Sabha member K Vanlalvena informed Parliament on Tuesday.

As per a statement issued by Mizoram's Department of Information and Public Relations, he told the House that Myanmar nationals took refuge in different parts of the state.

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While the majority of them are lodged at 15 relief camps set up jointly by the state government and civil society organisations, some are accommodated by their relatives, he said.

They are provided with shelter, food, clothing, utensils and other essential items by the state government, NGOs, churches, political parties and individuals amid the COVID-19 pandemic without any assistance from the Centre, Vanlalvena said.

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He also said that their children are enrolled in government schools across the state.

He urged the Centre to provide assistance to the Myanmar nationals even though India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention of 1951 and its 1967 Protocol.

Earlier, Chief Minister Zoramthanga had said that the Centre assured him that it would take measures to enable the Mizoram government to provide assistance to the displaced Myanmar nationals.

Six Mizoram districts -- Champhai, Siaha, Lawngtlai, Serchhip, Hnahthial and Saitual -- share a 510-km-long international border with Myanmar's Chin state.

The northeastern state has been facing an influx from Myanmar since late February after the military junta seized power through a coup.

Most of the Myanmar nationals, who fled to Mizoram, belong to the Chin community, who share ancestry and close ethnic ties with the Mizos.

There are some lawmakers among the Myanmar nationals who have crossed over to India.

In March, Zoramthanga had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to provide relief and asylum to the Myanmar nationals.

A delegation from the state led by Lok Sabha member C Lalrosanga had also met several Union ministers in New Delhi over the issue in mid-March.

On Monday, leaders of Myanmar nationals, who took refuge in the state, called on Zoramthanga. The chief minister had assured them that the state government would continue to provide assistance.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)