Aizawl: Mizoram home minister K Sapdanga on Monday told the assembly that the govt has received information that refugees from Myanmar sheltering in the state are engaging in trading activities, even though trading by refugees is legally not permitted.Replying to supplementary questions after responding to a query from BJP legislator K Beichhua, Sapdanga said some refugees allegedly involved in trade have been arrested and are facing trial in courts.“All of them cannot be lodged in govt accommodations and the refugees themselves cannot choose where they want to stay,” the minister said, adding that the large number of refugees has made proper planning difficult.Sapdanga said the govt wants to streamline refugee accommodation by lodging them in designated relief camps, but many arrived after fleeing their villages in Myanmar in haste and have been staying with relatives and friends, in schools and halls, or in makeshift shelters.He said authorities act on reports of trading by refugees, and that arrests have been made and cases registered.According to the latest record of the state home department, 30,715 refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh are taking shelter in Mizoram.
