Repatriation of 4,400 Bru Families to Commence from October 3

Aizawl, September 30, 2019:

As many as 4,400 Bru families will be repatriated from Tripura to Mizoram on October 3, as per officials of the Home Department. Earlier, the repatriation was scheduled on October 2.

As per the departmental information, the Bru refugees at Kaskau camp will be repatriated to Mamit district first. Later, the refugees at Naisingpara, Hazacchera, and other camps’ repatriation will begin. These refugees will settle at Mamit, Lunglei and Kolasib districts in Mizoram.

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The Tripura border will be used as the felicitation centre of the refugees. The State government will arrange for the transportation of the Bru refugees.

It may be mentioned here that the Bru refugees had migrated from Mizoram to Tripura following communal clashes in 1977. However, families who had migrated to Tripura in 2009 will not be included in the repatriation.

Meanwhile, it has been known that Bru refugee leaders, in their appeal to CM Zoramthanga, have demanded prior inspection of the villages where they will be resettled. They have also demanded that they should be allowed to settle on the land of their choice.

Speaking with Inside Northeast, People’s Right to Information and Development Implementation Society of Mizoram (PRISM), president, Vanlalruata said, “Yes, we are accepting their comeback. The process of repatriation of the Bru families is going on and we want them to come back home.”

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Thousands of Bru refugees who migrated from Mizoram to Tripura following communal clashes have been living in Tripura for the past 42 years in six refugee camps. Many attempts of repatriation were made earlier but it went futile. Murder of Mizo youth leader by suspected Bru militants and dissatisfaction of refugee settlement package being the major reasons behind the delay in the settlement of the Bru refugees.

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