Bru Refugees Demand Autonomous District Council in Mizoram

Agartala, October 16, 2019:

Bru refugees are now demanding an Autonomous District Council in Mizoram for their community.

On Wednesday, a four corner meeting was held on the issue of Bru refugees, who have been staying in Tripura for last 22 years, in the capital city Agartala.

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Leaders of the Bru refugee groups explicitly demanded an Autonomous District Council in Mizoram. They also raised the issue of security for the Brus.

Central government officials, Tripura government officials, Mizoram government officials, and Bru refugee leaders were present at the meeting.

MHA Special Secretary (Internal Security) A.P. Maheshwari has attended the meeting on behalf of the central government. He said, "Government of India assured them has assured them of safety, but they should return to Mizoram first."

He further added that a repatriation agreement was signed by the Bru leaders, which mandates their return.

Maheshwari also said that the Government is clear regarding its stand to refugee camps in Tripura anymore.

"Government of India has already finalized the scheme of resettlement in 2018 and we are honouring that", he added.

It may be mentioned here that the ration for the Bru refugees has been stopped by the government.

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MBDPF general secretary Bruno Msha said that majority of Bru refugees living in camps of Tripura have demanded an Autonomous District Council (ADC) in Mizoram, as a condition of going back.

It is to be noted that that over 37,000 Brus fled from Mizoram during the ethnic strife of 1997. They took shelter in six makeshift relief camps in Kanchanpur and Panisagar sub-divisions of the North Tripura district.

Twenty-two years on, 32,00 of them still live in these relief camps. However, around 5,000 refugees returned in eight phases of repatriation.

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