AIZAWL, Nov 2 - Mizoram officials today began identification of bonafide Mizoram citizens among the Bru refugees to be repatriated by November 30.
The identification process began at Kaskau relief camp. Mamit (Mizoram�s western district) DC Lalbiaksangi, who led the team of 30 officials, said 40 people turned up for identification, a good sign compared to the previous identification processes.
The Mizoram government uses the 1995 Mizoram electoral roll to determine the bonafide citizens among the Bru refugees. Those in the voters� list and their children would be considered Mizoram citizens.
Of the six relief camps, the Kaskau camp hosts around 500 displaced Brus. The team leader said identification was an uphill task as the Tripura government did not have proper records of the number of residents and that of births and deaths.
The identification process in all the six relief camps is expected to be completed by November 21.
Thousands of Bru refugees have been living in makeshift camps in North Tripura�s Kanchanpur and Panisagar sub-divisions neighbouring Mizoram since October 1997 after they fled their homes in western Mizoram following ethnic violence, triggered by the killing of a Mizo forest officer by suspected Bru militants.
Several attempts to repatriate them during the last few years had turned futile as the refugees refused to go back to their villages unless their demands for food and security were met. Only 1,686 families have been repatriated since 2010 till date.
