Tripura: Bengali Organization Demands Action against Reang Refugees for Lockdown Rule Violations

Agartala, April 20, 2020:

Bru refugees of Kanchanpur in Tripura on April 19 triggered tension in the region for allegedly not following Government laid-down quarantine protocols, local sources said.

The incident has triggered tension throughout the area. Nagarika Surakha Mancha, a Bengali organization which has been vocal in its opposition to the settlement of the Reangs in Tripura, has demanded strict action.

“We will give a deputation to the SDM Kanchanpur seeking strict action against the errant refugees. The restrictions of home quarantine can’t be followed in refugee camps due to its dense population. The act of the refugees must be treated strictly as they have exposed the entire region to this deadly contagion” said Diptendu Nath, the General Secretary.

It may be mentioned here that altogether 35 identified refugees who had recently visited Mizoram had allegedly refused to be lodged into institutional quarantine. A highly placed health official of North Tripura district said that it has been resolved to put the refugees under quarantine. The state government has also commissioned an inquiry in this regard.

Sources in Kanchanpur said that altogether 35 refugees of Naisingpara refugee camp were identified by the health department as ones who had crossed over to Tripura only recently.

”In the last few days, a number of Bru refugees entered Tripura through Sabwal area of Mizoram. As far as primary investigation is concerned, they have gone there for some work. Soon after, they were identified and taken to a local community hall for quarantine", the source said.

However, after the initial hoopla, the refugees refused to stay in institutional quarantine. “Yesterday, the Bru refugees refused to stay at the quarantine. Following the problem, we shifted them to their houses and sealed off their activity. Now, all of them are in home quarantine”, said a highly placed health department source of North Tripura district.

On the contrary, some of the local sources informed this reporter that the refugees broke their quarantine and came out citing that they had no symptoms of the novel coronavirus. And, then the health officials resolved to put them on home quarantine.

Health Secretary Debasish Basu, reacting to the issue, said that an inquiry has been commissioned and the state COVID response committee was waiting to get the detailed report. “We have initiated an inquiry. The report is still to reach us. As soon as we get the detailed report we will make it public before media followed by further administrative steps”, Basu told this reporter over phone.

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