15 November 2025 – The border crossing between India’s Mizoram State and Myanmar’s Paletwa township in Chin State has been temporarily shut down following a severe outbreak of acute diarrheal infection that has claimed multiple lives since early November.
The United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA), which currently manages the administrative control over parts of Paletwa township, announced the temporary closure on 12 November.
The measure was implemented to prevent the potential cross-border spread of the disease from India into Myanmar. The closure was enforced at the ULA/AA gate near the Shinletwa area in Paletwa township that shares an international border with Lawngtlai District of Mizoram State, India.
A local resident confirmed the closure, highlighting that the ULA/AA closed the border route between Paletwa township and Lawngtlai District starting from 12 November due to increasing infections and deaths from the diarrheal outbreak in the border area.
According to a statement from the ULA/AA’s Public Health Department, approximately 300 individuals in the Shinletwa area, including both residents and cross-border traders, are currently afflicted with the acute diarrheal infection.
Emergency health teams are collaborating with district authorities and local NGOs to deliver urgent medical aid, contain the further spread, and enact preventive health measures.
Local sources indicate the outbreak originated in the villages in the India-Myanmar border areas. The movement of traders and residents across the border is suspected to have facilitated the transmission of infections into communities within Paletwa township.
Reports confirm that six fatalities have occurred in two affected villages in the border area since the outbreak began this month. – Reporting by Benjamin
