The 462 Bru families who fled Mizoram for Tripura following the murder of a Mizo youth by Bru militants on November 13 near Bungthuam hamlet on the Mizoram-Tripura border, would begin returning from tomorrow, a senior Mizoram home department official said here on Monday.
The official told PTI that the State government had completed all arrangements for the repatriation process.
Administrative officers have been designated for all the eight villages to oversee the return under the supervision of Mamit district deputy commissioner Zothankhuma.
The State government, following request from the Union Home Ministry, made arrangements for the repatriation of Bru families from May 11. It was to be completed by May 15.
Identification of bonafide residents of Mizoram would be made at the border for which NREGS job cards, ration cards and enrolment in the voters’ lists would be needed, State Home Secretary Lalmalsawma said.
Each family would be given Rs. 80,000 to be disbursed and free rations for nine months, he said.
Meanwhile, the Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum president Elvis Chorkhy was quoted as saying that advance payment of Rs. 1,500 has been demanded for travel expenses.
The murder of the youth, Zarzokima, on November 13, three days before the proposed commencement of the repatriation of Brus from six relief camps in North Tripura upset the repatriation process of refugees who were there since 1997. It also triggered communal tension resulting in another exodus of Brus to Tripura.
