AIZAWL, April 24 NNN: Mizoram Home Minister Lalzirliana today convened an important meeting with leaders of various NGOs on the issue of Bru repatriation at his office chamber.
The meeting was also attended by top officials from Mizoram Home Department. The state government is taking all necessary steps to rehabilitate the Mizo refugees languishing in Tripura and Mizoram and for this purpose, a financial packaged had also been sanctioned and will be disbursed shortly, said Lalzirliana. A total of 83 Mizo families were rendered homeless and stayed as refugees in Mizoram and Tripura state since 2009 due to ethnic violence broke out after the brutal killing of Zarzokima (18) at Bungthuam, near Tripura border, in Mizoram by a little known militant outfit – Bru National Army (BNA) on November 12, 2009.
The minister said that the 32 Mizo families who were in Jampui hills will be rehabilitated by the Tripura government while 51 families who were in Mizoram since 2009 will be rehabilitated by the Mizoram government. Leaders of various NGOs today urged the home minister to rehabilitate the Mizo refugees before commencing the fourth phase of Bru repatriation. One the issue of Bru refugees, the NGOs leaders said that the govt should not keep all the repatriated Brus in the same constituency and asked the government to give responsibility of distributing financial package to each village councils.
As per government sources, the next phase of Bru repatriation will take place between April 26 and May 11 where 669 comprising 3652 members will be repatriated. They will be settled in 21 villages.
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.
Meanwhile, a recent head count conducted by the MBDPF found that there have been 31,703 Brus in the relief camps belonging to 5,448 families who are bona fide residents of Mizoram.
The repatriation of the 1997 batch of Bru refugees was underway until it stalled by the November 13 killing.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/bru-repatriation/
