AIZAWL, April 26 � Repatriation of Bru refugees from Tripura camp to Mizoram will be resumed from Wednesday.
According to official sources, 123 more families comprising 645 persons are to be repatriated from Naisingpara camp.
As usual, transport will be arranged for the refugees. The refugees will be received by officials of Mizoram Government at Kanhmun Facilitation Centre. They will be escorted later to their respective resettlement sites. The sites are Damparengpui, Khanthuam, Tuipuibari and West Bunghmun.
Earlier, 2749 persons of 543 families had so far been repatriated from Tripura to Mizoram since November last year.
According to the revised programme, the refugees whose names are enrolled in the State Electoral Rolls will be lifted from their camps twice a week that is, on every Tuesday and Friday.
The second phase of repatriation will cover those who claimed to be indigenous inhabitants of Mizoram though they are without the support of electoral rolls or other relevant documents to prove their claims.
It is pertinent to note that hundreds of Brus left Mizoram in 1997 and 2009. The first case was triggered when Bru militants murdered two Mizos who were Forest guards on October 21, 1997. The second case happened after a 17-year-old Mizo boy was killed by the Brus near Bungthuam village on November 13, 2009.
Meanwhile, a recent head count conducted by the MBDPF found that there have been 31,703 Brus in the relief camps belonging to 5,448 families who are bonafide residents of Mizoram.
The repatriation of the 1997 batch of Bru refugees was underway until it was stalled by the November 13 killing.
