Census 2027: Mizoram to enumerate refugees separately

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Mizoram has decided to enumerate refugees living temporarily in the State as part of the 2027 Census, with their details recorded in a list separate from that of Indian citizens, officials said.

The decision followed a State-level meeting in Aizawl on Saturday (October 10, 2026) to review preparations for the second phase of the Census. Mizoram Chief Secretary Khilli Ram Meena chaired the meeting.

Mizoram Home Minister K. Sapdanga told the 40-member State Assembly a few weeks ago that 38,213 refugees had been registered as of August 20. Of them, 29,575 were from Myanmar, 6,959 from Manipur and 1,679 from Bangladesh, he said.

Local organisations, however, put the figure at over 60,000.

Refugees from Myanmar, mostly members of the Chin community, began arriving in Mizoram after the military coup in February 2021. A military offensive in Bangladesh forced members of the Bawm community to flee to Mizoram in November 2022, while the Kuki-Zomi people of Manipur fled ethnic conflicts in May 2023.

The Chins, Bawms, and Kuki-Zomi people are ethnically related to Mizoram’s dominant Mizo community.

Mr. Sapdanga also told the House that biometric enrolment of the Bawms had been completed, while that of the Chins reached 98.9%.

“Individuals who do not wish to share their Aadhaar numbers will not be compelled to disclose them,” an official said after the Saturday (October 10) meeting.

Mr. Sapdanga also said people excluded from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) would be counted in the Census. Altogether, 78,442 names were deleted from the draft electoral rolls published on July 4.

Mr. Meena said the second phase of the enumeration exercise would require greater effort than the first and urged officials to complete it within the stipulated timeframe. He said the challenge was to become India’s first State to complete the Census 2027 work.

“The target (to become the first) was set during the first phase of the exercise,” he said.