Bru Refugees Split on Repatriation To Mizoram

By Prabir Sil
 
Agartala, Oct 26 : Uncertainty looms large over the repatriation of Bru refugees to Mizoram now sheltered in North Tripura’s Kanchanpur subdivision after a vertical split among refugee bodies.

As per the Centre’s guidelines, around 1,200 refugee families were supposed to return to Mizoram within first part of October but it has not happened due to a ‘misunderstanding’ among refugee leaders.

Sources claimed, the repatriation of Bru refugees has virtually stalled due to a split among refugee leaders belonging to Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF) and other NOGs. Virtually declaring a revolt against Elvis Chorkey, president of MBDPF, three NGOs under the leadership of Binoy Reang has written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his intervention to remove the stalemate.

They have also staged a demonstration in front of the Dasda RD block office in Kanchanpur subdivision on Sunday to ventilate their grievances. In the letter addressed to the Prime Minister, BRU NGOs had mentioned the plight of the refugees sheltered in six relief camps since a long time.

The letter has been jointly submitted by MBDPF, Young Bru Association (YBA) and Bru Displaced Welfare Organisation (BDWO) in protest against the unconditional repatriation of Bru refugees and signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) against the will of majority of the Bru people.

Earlier, the BDWO had expressed it’s dismay over the ongoing preparation for the settlement of refugees after they were being repatriated to Mizoram.

According to administration here, the split among Bru refugee leaders has virtually marred the prospect of return of refugees though the Centre has been piling heat on the Mizoram Government to take all the bonafide refugees back. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in his last visit to Mizoram had made it clear that all the refugees should be repatriated by end of this year. It seems, the process will get further delayed due to the squabbles among the refugee leaders.