Bru Refugee Census Begins in Mizoram

Aizawl, Jun 21 : Head count of Bru refugees, now lodged in six relief camps in Kanchanpur sub-division of North Tripura district, is underway, president of the Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF), Elvis Chorkhy, today said.

The exercise is expected to be completed by this month, Chorkhy told PTI over phone from Naisingpara relief camp.

This is part of the preparations being made by the Mizoram government for repatriation of bona fide residents of Mizoram from the relief camps not later than October as desired by the Centre.

Union home minister P Chidambaram, during his Aizawl visit on May 25, urged the Bru leaders to ensure that all the refugees return to Mizoram within October end.

Head count of those who had left the state for Tripura following the murder of a Mizo youth by Bru militants on November 13 and of those who migrated to Tripura in the wake of the killing of a forest guard inside the Dampa Tiger Reserve by the Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) ultras in October 1997 has been taken up separately but simultaneously, Chorkhy said.

Communal tension arising out of the gunning down of the forest guard triggered mass exodus of Brus from Mizoram during the last part of 1997. Efforts to repatriate them was jeopardized by a similar incident three days before the proposed repatriation scheduled to begin from November 16 last year. Rather, it resulted in another exodus.