Following the withdrawal of the Chinland National Defence Force (CNDF) from Zokhawthar and Rihkhawdar, over 2,500 Myanmar refugees who had sought shelter in Mizoram, India, began returning to their villages over the weekend of July 12-13, 2025. These refugees had fled to Mizoram in early July due to intense fighting between the Chin National Army (CNA) and the CNDF, two factions of rebel forces battling the Myanmar military junta.
The recent influx of refugees, numbering around 4,653, sought refuge in Mizoram starting July 2, 2025, following clashes between the Chin National Defence Force and the Chinland Defence Force-Hualngoram in Myanmar’s Chin State. As the CNDF withdrew from villages near the border, many refugees who had taken refuge in Zokhawthar, Vaphai, and Saikhumphai started returning to their homes.
Ngurchhawna, the vice president of the Young Mizo Association (YMA) in Zokhawthar, reported that almost all refugees housed in makeshift shelters, such as church halls and community centers, have been repatriated. He noted that most of those who fled to Zokhawthar have returned to Khawmawi, with only a few remaining, primarily those staying with relatives. The Zokhawthar unit of the YMA has been working with the Assam Rifles and local police to assist in the repatriation process and verify numbers.
Saiawia, the officer on duty at Zokhawthar police station in Mizoram’s Champhai district, mentioned that most refugees have left for Khawmawi, and they anticipate the remaining people taking shelter at the Zokhawthar border trade centre and another 850 staying in Saikhumphai, Vaphai, and Farkawn to return once the situation stabilizes.
Sources in eastern Mizoram’s Champhai district indicated that around 4,653 Myanmar refugees, including women and children, had sought shelter in Mizoram after the Chin National Defence Force (CNDF) and Chinland Defence Force (CDF), both anti-military ethnic groups, were engaged in fierce gun battles between June 28 and July 5 over territory. A senior Mizoram government official stated that displaced persons who had sought refuge have begun returning to their homes in Myanmar following the CNDF withdrawal from the Myanmar villages across the border on the Zokhawthar side. Of the roughly 4,653 refugees, 3,867 had taken shelter in Zokhawthar, while 786 sought refuge in Vaphai and Saikhumphai villages in Champhai district. Approximately 500 refugees were housed in relief camps, with the remainder staying with relatives and friends.
A fragile calm along the Myanmar-Mizoram border has prompted over half of the refugees who fled recent clashes in Chin state to return, with over 2,300 people returning to villages like Khawmawi and Rihkhawdar from Zokhawthar in Mizoram. Laldinthara, the Zokhawthar village council president, said the mass return began after Myanmar local authorities inquired if refugees were prepared to go back, noting that it is the peak time for weeding in paddy fields, and many are eager to resume work. Since violence erupted on July 5, a total of 3,892 people had crossed into Mizoram. According to police records, 2,319 refugees returned on Saturday, with the number rising to 2,568 by Sunday evening.
However, hopes for wider repatriation remain uncertain as the situation along the Tiau river in southern Champhai remains tense. Chin National Army (CNA) militants were reportedly blocking cross-border movement, with about 850 refugees from Leilet, Singai, Satawm, and Selawn currently stranded in Saikhumphai, Vaphai, and Farkawn villages.
A Mizoram Home Department official said that a large-scale exercise to collect biometric and demographic data of around 35,000 Myanmar refugees would start by the end of July 2025. The exercise, using the Foreigner Identification Portal, will be conducted in all 11 districts of the state, with expenditures borne by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
