More than 2000 Bru refugees return to Mizoram

At least 2,136 Bru refugees have returned to Mizoram from the six relief camps in Tripura since June 21 last, state Home Department officials said today. The Bru refugees entered Mizoram on their own after discontinuation of the official repatriation process and settled in different villages in Mamit district, they said.

The self-repatriated Brus would be given rehabilitation and resettlement package only after being identified as bona-fide residents of Mizoram, the officials said.

Mamit-based Bru Coordination Committee Chairman Elvis Chorkhy alleged that those who were willing to return to Mizoram were threatened and obstructed by some people.

Joint NGO leaders at the relief camps and Bru leaders like A Sawibunga, President of the Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF), however, claimed that the Bru people, did not want to return to Mizoram unless their demands were met.

The MBDPF has been demanding among other things that the rehabilitation and resettlement package should be increased from Rs 85,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh per family and that the free ration to be provided to the repatriated families should be extended from one year to two years.