The Tripura government accelerated the process to rehabilitate the Mizoram Bru refugees to respect a quadripartite accord signed in New Delhi on January 16 last. It has selected 12 places to provide permanent settlement to over 35,000 evacuees housed in six camps in north Tripura.
“Four official committees are overseeing the settlement arrangements. The selected places are spread over four districts,” a senior official said on Wednesday.
Makeshift camps ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Bru or Reang refugees have been housed in makeshift camps in the Kanchanpur subdivision since 1997 after they fled ethnic tension in Mizoram. Mizo hardline groups always treated the minority tribe members as infiltrators.
The accord was signed at the behest of the Ministry of Home Affairs after a meeting with the representatives of the refugees, the Tripura and the Mizoram governments.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
The refugees had foiled several attempts to repatriate them to Mizoram citing security and citizenship status. The MHA accepted a proposal by Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb and State’s royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarman to rehabilitate them in the State to end the stalemate.
Also read: Who are the Brus, and what are the implications of settling them in Tripura?
Officials are regularly meeting the Bru refugee leaders to discuss the rehabilitation modalities. The settlement process made progress despite COVID-19 situation, sources said.
MHA to bear expenditure
The MHA will incur the whole expenditure of settlement and the package assured in the accord that each refugee family would get a plot, fixed deposit of ₹4 lakh, free ration and a monthly stipend of ₹5,000 for two years.
In addition, each family will also be provided ₹1.5 lakh to construct a house.
The Tripura government has already notified them as its permanent citizens.