AGARTALA/AIZAWL, Oct 2: With the Centre
deciding to stop relief from Monday to
over 32,000 Reang tribal refugees living in
north Tripura for over two decades, it is not
clear if they will start returning to Mizoram
although nearly 180 have done so.
The authorities made the announcement
about the decision – taken earlier this month
– through public address on Friday and Saturday.
A north Tripura district administration
official said a week’s relief was provided to
the Bru refugees on Saturday evening.
A total of 32,876 refugees had been staying
in Tripura after fleeing their villages in Mizoram
due to ethnic tension.
“The government is very serious in asking
the tribals to return to their homes immediately.
But we are not sure whether they will
start leaving their camps soon,” the official told
IANS on the condition of anonymity on phone
from Dharmanagar, 190 km north of here.
He claimed that some refugee leaders were
misguiding those staying put.
“The Central Government will stop relief
and other assistance from October 1 to tribal
refugees staying in six camps in Tripura,”
North Tripura District Magistrate Raval Hamendra
Kumar told IANS.
The decision is in line with a July 3 agreement
between Tripura and Mizoram governments,
the Home Ministry and refugees’ body Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDPF).
The agreement entails benefits to each refugee
family, including Rs 4 lakh aid, monthly
allowance of Rs 5,000, Rs 1.5 lakh for building
house and free ration for two years.
As per the agreement, the Reang tribals,
comprising 5,407 families, were scheduled to
start returning to three Mizoram districts from
August 16 or 17.
But they refused and reiterated their demands,
including security in Mizoram by paramilitary
forces and allotment of sufficient land
for farming, besides formation of Area Development
Council for Reang tribals, locally called
‘Bru’. MBDPF General Secretary Bruno Msha
said their demands were not incorporated in the
agreement, including allotment of five hectares
of land to each refugee family on their return.
On the other hand, 177 refugees from 32 families
returned to Mizoram on September 19 and
26. One refugee family left for Mizoram on Sunday.
The District Magistrate, who along with
SDMs of Kanchanpur and Panisagar is supervising
the matter, said a few more refugee families
were likely to return to Mizoram any time.
Mizoram Home Department Additional Secretary
Lalbiakzama told the media in Aizawl
that 4,199 Reang tribal families will be resettled
in 48 villages in Mamit district and 824 and
384 families in 10 villages in Kolasib and four
villages in Lunglei districts respectively. – IANS
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