AGARTALA, Sept 27 - In a fresh twist to the issue of repatriation of Bru refugees sheltered in six relief camps of North Tripura district, the refugee leaders have refused to return to their home State of Mizoram under the present circumstances, sources stated.
In a high-level meeting on Thursday, Bruno Meshe, secretary of the Mizoram Bru Displaced People�s Forum (MBDPF), told a Mizoram Government delegation that the refugees are not willing to return home as the designated areas for rehabilitation are not suitable. �We are not going to Mizoram from October 3 as decided earlier. Give us time to discuss the issue,� he said in the meeting, surprising officials from both Mizoram and Tripura.
The meeting took place at the conference hall of the Damcherra Block Office in North Tripura district to chalk out a road map for the repatriation process. The Home Secretary of the Mizoram Government, the District Magistrate of North Tripura and MBDPF leaders took part in the meeting. The meeting is reported to have ended abruptly.
However, the Home Secretary of the Mizoram Government said that he would send vehicles to the refugee camps in Tripura to ferry those who are willing to return to Mizoram on October 3.
