Tripura: Over 500 Bru Refugees Protest After Two Deaths Following Food Scarcity

Agartala, November 1, 2019:

More than 500 Bru refugees staged massive protests and blocked roads in Tripura after two people starved to death due to food scarcity.

The refugees took to the streets of Lakkhipur and Anandabazaar areas in Tripura after a month of food scarcity. It may be mentioned here that the state government had stopped food supply to the refugees after they refused to repatriate to Mizoram.

Ration supplies, cash dole, and other benefits were halted to six Bru relief camps in North Tripura district since October 3. This is the third time that the supply of food has been stopped for the refugees in the state.

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The Reang refugees alleged that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) stops food supply whenever they refuse to return. They added that the government refused to fulfill any of their demands for repatriation.

The Bru refugees further alleged that neither the state government nor the civil society members were willing to accept their demands.

Nearly 37,000 people from Bru communities fled Mamit, Kolasib and Lunglei districts of Mizoram during ethnic clashes in October 1997. These refugees were sheltered in six relief camps in Kanchanpur and Panisagar sub-divisions of the North Tripura district.

It may be mentioned here that the Bru refugees refused to relocate recently and in a letter to the Mizoram government, the Bru representatives said that the transit camps are not fit for habitation. Bru refugees are now demanding an Autonomous District Council in Mizoram for their community.

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