The opening ceremony for a clinic for refugees from Myanmar was held in Zokhawthar Village, Champhai District, Mizoram, India on 18 May.

The Mizoram State Minister for law, transport and the environment, Pu TJ. Lalnuntluanga gave the opening address at the ceremony for the clinic. It was paid for by the Institute of Chin Affairs (ICA), the Mizo Student Union (MSU), the Chin Baptist Association of North America (CBANA) and the Myanmar Refugees Relief Committee (MRRC).

The clinic will be run by doctors and nurses from Myanmar taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM).

It will provide free treatment to any refugees who hold a refugee card issued by the Mizzoram government. Undocumented refugees and locals will be charged 50 per cent of their medicine costs.

“The Mizo Student Union, MRRC and the Chin Baptist Association of North America will provide medical supplies and equipment to the clinic. Currently, it lacks equipment for patient [care], such as an Ultrasound machine. We need more donors so that we can get some medical equipment”, said S.Lal Hu Lian, an MRRC secretary to Mizzima.

The clinic will open from 9 a.m. on Mondays and Thursdays, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays. It will be closed at weekends.

Zokhawthar is a village in Mizoram just across the border from Myanmar near to the India- Myanmar border trade camp No.2 in Mizoram. It is home to more than 4,000 refugees from Myanmar.

The MRRC previously opened another outpatient clinic for refugees in Aizawl district, Mizoram on 12 February, in collaboration with the Mizo Students Union (MSU), the Chin Health Organization (CHO) and BN Hospital.

On 17 May 60 bags of rice, 30 boxes of edible oil, 20 bags of beans, 20 bags of potatoes and 200,000 Indian rupees in cash were donated to the Zokhawthar refugee camp, according to the MRRC.

This story was amended on 1 June to add the Institute of Chin Affairs (ICA) as a funder of the clinic.