Mizoram to continue with Bru repatriation despite stir

Aizawl: The Mizoram government will continue with the repatriation of over 4,400 Bru families despite a protest launched by the Bru tribals lodged at six relief camps in Tripura, an official said on Thursday.

The official said that the exercise will be continued as per the road map of Bru repatriation unless there is a new order. He said that the Mizoram government could not take any measure in connection with the Bru agitation as the strike was going on in Tripura.

However, he added that the indefinite roadblock could impede the ongoing repatriation as it is being organised in the entry point of Bru relief camps.

Spearheaded by Mizoram Bru Displaced People Forum (MBDPF), the Bru refugees lodged at six relief camps in Tripura have launched indefinite roadblock to register protest against stoppage of free ration and cash dole to the refugees and the ongoing repatriation from Thursday.

A Bru leader said that the strike is being organised on the Kanchanpur-Ananda road which is the entry point of Bru relief camps. The road will be blocked between 5 am and 5 pm every day, he said. He added that the refugees are starving after the Centre stopped the supply of free ration and cash dole to about 35,000 Bru refugees in Tripura from early October.

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The MBDPF on Tuesday wrote to North Tripura district magistrate Ravel H Kumar, seeking resumption of free ration and cash dole. The Bru body also asked the Centre to stop the ongoing repatriation. It alleged that free ration and cash dole were stopped by the Centre to put the refugees in such situation to return to Mizoram.

It further alleged that the ongoing force repatriation, as well as the Centre’s move in stopping free ration and cash dole, was unconstitutional and inhuman. Official sources said on Thursday said that as many as 218 Bru families have been repatriated to Mizoram in the ensuing repatriation which began from October 3.

Many of the families have returned on their own after the Bru leaders refused them to come back to Mizoram, the sources added. Of the 218 Bru families, 131 belonged to Mamit district, 18 to Kolasib district and 69 families were bona fide residents of Lunglei district.