Northeast India: Displaced Brus set to return to Mizoram

Nava Thakuria
Displaced Brus from Mizoram will return to their places this week. The

development was made possible following the assurance from the Union

government of India. Now taking refugee in neighboruing Tripura, the

recently displaced Bru families will join the repatriation process on

May 21. Both Mizoram and Tripura are two tiny Northeast Indian States

bordering Burma and Bangladesh.
“The first phase of the repatriation of the Brus displaced in November

2009 will start from Tripura on 21 May 2010 and will complete on 26

May 2010 provided the Mizoram government organizes the transport

facilities. In the first phase, a total of 210 Bru families have been

identified for repatriation,” said in a statement issued by Asian

Centre for Human Rights, which mediated with the concerned parties in

the recent past.
The repatriation was supposed to take place on May 11 but it was not

materialized as the State government of Mizoram failed to provide

transportation facilities to the beneficiaries. Now the transportation

facilities have been arranged by the Mizoram government with the

assistance from the State government of Tripura, informed the New

Delhi based rights group.
Speaking to this writer Suhas Chakma, director of Asian Centre for

Human Rights sated, “The repatriation is taking place after written

assurances were given by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of

India about rehabilitation and security of the returnee Brus through

the Asian Centre for Human Rights. The Bru Coordination Committee

submitted its demands for rehabilitation of the newly arrived Brus

through the ACHR.”
The Union Home Ministry in a written communication to the ACHR

informed that it had sanctioned grants-in-aid of Rs. 2.43 crore to the

Mizoram government for meeting expenditure on repatriation and

rehabilitation of Bru families who had fled to Tripura in November,

2009. This fund would be utilized by the Mizoram government for

providing housing assistance, free ration for a period of 9 months and

other relevant expenditures.
“Apart from these, assistance include cost of preparation of land for

Jhum cultivation to Bru families who did not flee to Tripura,

household kits and implements and for meeting cost of construction of

barracks, sentry posts etc for State Armed Police/IR Bn who would be

deployed in relevant areas for facilitating peaceful repatriation and

rehabilitation of Bru migrants,” Chakma added.
He also opined that the first phase of repatriation should build

necessary confidence to start the stalled dialogue for resolving the

disputes surrounding the Brus who fled in 1997. The ACHR encourages

both the Mizoram government and the refugee leaders (Bru Coordination

Committee) to avail the opportunity arising out of this first phase of

repatriation process to find a permanent solution to the Bru crisis.

Mentionable that over 35,000 Brus displaced from Mizoram since 1997

are now taking shelter in six makeshift camps under Kanchanpur

sub-division of Tripura. In November 2009, fresh displacement of about

5,000 Brus took place and many of them fled to Tripura. The ACHR

immediately undertook a Fact Finding Mission at the invitation of the

Mizoram government and pursued the issue strongly. Later in February

2010, the Union Home Ministry had requested the rights body to use its

good offices to convince the Bru IDPs to return to Mizoram.