Repatriation of Brus likely to resume soon
Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network
Aizawl, June 19 2013:
Repatriation of Mizoram Bru refugees from Tripura camps to Mizoram is likely to resume soon.
This information is received by the Mizoram government from Tripura Government which stated that the situation has become conducive once again after a short-lived tension in the inter-state border areas during the last two months.
Meanwhile, the initiative taken at the official level is expected to be approved by the Government in a few days time.
According to official sources, Mizoram officials are likely to be sent to the refugee camps in Tripura for identification of the refugees who are willing to return to Mizoram.
It may be mentioned here that the inter-state road between Mizoram and Tripura which was blocked at Langkaih Bridge has been reopened with effect from the first June following improvement of the situation.
The process of repatriation was temporarily stalled by officials of Tripura Government following tension in the border area in the aftermath of the death of Siberamriang.
But now, the situation has improved further with reopening of Langkaih Bridge which connects Mizoram and Tripura.
On May 7, in the wake of the move to resume the repatriation of the Bru refugees, Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP),the largest students' body of Mizoram had asked the state government of Mizoram not to resume the repatriation process of Bru refugees from Tripura camp to Mizoram unless the refugees inform the government in writing that they were willing to come back to Mizoram.
The MZP leaders had said that the Bru people did not want to return to Mizoram when they were given chances five times by the Centre and the government of Mizoram as they left Mizoram for Tripura on their own volition.
The MZP also expressed concern over the increasing law and order problem in the border area including kidnapping of Mizos by the Brus for ransom.
It is pertinent to note that hundreds of Brus left Mizoram in 1997 and 2009.The first case was triggered when Bru militants murdered two Mizos who were forest guards on October 21, 1997 .
The second case happened after a 17-year-old Mizo boy was killed by the Brus near Bungthuam village on November 13, 2009.When the Bru left Mizoram they had driven out some Mizos in villages of Sakhan Hill Range in Tripura like Sakhan Serhmun, Sakhan Tlangsang, Sakhan Tualsen and Upper Dosda which had kicked up much ruckus in Mizoram then.
Meanwhile, a couple of years ago, head count conducted by the MBDPF found that there had been 31,703 Brus in the relief camps belonging to 5,448 families who were bona fide residents of Mizoram.
The repatriation of the 1997 batch of Bru refugees was underway until it stalled by the November 13 killing.
In the year 2011, conglomeration of major NGOs in Mizoram had submitted a joint memorandum to the then Union Home minister P Chidambaram to rehabilitate displaced Mizos in Tripura and stall the ongoing repatriation of Brus from Tripura to Mizoram.
The memorandum was signed by representatives of four large NGOs in the state--the Young Mizo Association (YMA), the MZP, the Mizoram Upa Pawl (MUP) or elders association and the Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (MHIP) or the women's federation and four political parties.
The memorandum had mentioned that more than 80 Mizo families displaced from Tripura's Sakhan Hill range in 1998 after being threatened by Bru militants should be adequately rehabilitated by the Centre, otherwise, the repatriation of Bru refugees from Tripura relief camps should not be allowed.
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