AIZAWL: The chief minister of Myanmar’s Chin State, Salai Lian Luai, was among the Myanmarese nationals who took shelter in Mizoram, sources in the state government said on Monday.
According to sources, Luai entered Mizoram late last week and was given shelter in a safe place inside the state. The lawyer-turned-politician was appointed as chief minister of the Chin State on April 2016 and had been holding the post till date due to the military coup in Myanmar as the government could not be formed by National League for Democracy (NLD) which won a landslide victory in 2020 general elections due to the military coup d’etat on February 1, even as U Soe Htet was tipped to become the chief minister replacing the former.
Luai was detained by the Myanmar Armed Forces in the wake of the military takeover but was later released. He is among the 24 Myanmar legislators, elected in the 2020 general elections, and over 16,000 people who fled the country after massive military crackdown on anti-coup protesters across Mynamar and took shelter in Mizoram, the sources said.
Meanwhile, refugees from Myanmar continued to trickle in even after the district administration of Mizoram-Myanmar border Champhai suspended the Free Movement Regime (FMR), sources in Champhai district said on Monday.
Over 100 refugees crossed the border river Tiau on Saturday night out of whom 68 took temporary shelter in Farkawn village and 45 settled in Khawbung village.