Bru refugees in Tripura to back in Mizoram before September: Centre

New Delhi, July 3 (IANS) After a 21-year-long exile, 5,407 families of Bru persons from Mizoram residing in temporary relief camps in Tripura will be repatriated to their state before September, the Central government announced on Tuesday.

The announcement came after the Union Home Ministry on Tuesday signed an agreement with governments of Mizoram and Tripura and Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF) here in the presence of Union Home Minister Rajanth Singh and the two states' Chief Ministers. 

"At least 5,407 displaced Bru families, comprising of 32,876 persons, presently in temporary camps in Tripura will repatriate to Mizoram before September 30," the Home Ministry statement said. 

The agreement was signed by Special Secretary, Internal Security, in the Union Home Ministry Rina Mitra, Tripura Chief Secretary Sanjeev Ranjan, Mizoram Principal Secretary, Lalnunmawia Chuaungo and MBDPF President A. Sawibunga. 

The Central government will provide financial assistance for rehabilitation to Bru families in Mizoram and address their issues of security, eduction and livelihood in consultation with the Mizoram and Tripura governments, the statement said. 

It also said that a committee under Mitra would coordinate the implementaion of this agreement. 

In 1997, a bout of ethnic violence forced thousands of people from the Bru tribe to leave their homes in Mizoram. An attempt at repatriation began in 2010 and some people even moved back. But, it was only in December 2017 that the Mizoram government announced that it had identified 32,857 people belonging to 5,413 families for repatriation and the process would begin soon.