28 families of Bru refugees return to Mizoram

At least 28 Bru families from a refugee camp in Tripura on Wednesday entered Mizoram during the repatriation process which commenced from August 25, officials said.

With this, the number of repatriated families has gone up to 31.

Earlier, three families have returned during the first three days of the beginning of the repatriation process.

The officials said these 28 families would be taken to Dinthar village near Mizoram-Bangladesh border Tlabung town in south Mizoram’s Lunglei district.

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The repatriation process is scheduled to be completed by September 25.

At a meeting held earlier this month, Ministry of Home Affairs’ Joint Secretary (North East) Satyendra Garg appealed to the Bru refugees housed in relief camps in Tripura to return to Mizoram as assistances doled out to them would be withdrawn from October 1.

Thousands of Brus had been lodged in the Tripura relief camps since late 1997 in the wake of a communal tension triggered by the brutal killing of Lalzawmliana, a forest guard, inside the Dampa Tiger Reserve on October 21, 1997 by Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) militants.

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The first attempt to repatriate them from November 16, 2009 not only failed but triggered another wave of exodus after Bru militants gunned down a youth at Bungthuam village, three days before the commencement of the repatriation process.

Though some Bru families had already returned to Mizoram during a number of repatriation processes and on their own will, many of them continued to refuse to leave Tripura till date despite many attempts.