Eighteen years ago, in October 1997, thousands of Bru tribals fled villages in Mizoram and crossed over to Tripura in the wake of ethnic violence. Nearly 35,000 left their homes to seek temporary shelter in six relief camps in north Tripura. A minorty, the Brus alleged that they were subjected to atrocities for demanding a regional council to preserve their rights and identity in Mizoram. Over 11,000 refugees still languish in the makeshift camps in Kanchanpur sub-division, north of Agartala.

Since 2009, plans to repatriate the Bru tribals, or the Reang, as they are known in Tripura, have met with limited success. In the six phases of repatriation so far, fewer than 700 families have returned. The All NGOs Joint Committee of Brus (ANJC) has claimed that the Mizoram government has not accepted a single demand of the Brus. The demands include larger compensation packages, land for every family, free ration and grouping of villages for their safety. On June 2 this year, the ministry of home affairs began what might be the last attempt at reintegration. The families have been given a six-month deadline to return to Mizoram, after which the names of those who have refused will be struck off the state’s voter list. The Centre-provided rations will dry up and the relief camps will also be shut down. Homeless and landless, where will this agrarian community live?

At the camp, refugees continue to live in deplorable conditions. Malnutrition, malaria and gastroenteritis run rife, as families struggle with poverty and illiteracy. Potable water is also in short supply. As the Mizoram government, under the Supreme Court’s watch, marches from relief camp to relief camp, counters sit empty as no Bru tribal turns up for verification and repatriation. At Hamsapura, the third of the six camps, a lone woman turned up last week, making Porati the only Bru to have accepted the repatriation package so far.

Photos by Ritu Raj Konwar

Camping out: A view of the Naisingpara Bru refugee shelter, in northern Tripura, one of the six relief camps in the state.

Right to vote: Last year, voters in the camp used postal ballots. Seen here is a Bru couple who will lose their franchise if they don’t return to Mizoram by September

No solution, no repatriation: Protests at the Naisingpara camp. After six phases, this may be the home ministry and the Mizoram government’s final attempt at repatriation

Is anyone listening?: Women hold banners at the Naisingpara camp,protesting the home ministry-led repatriation process

Bear on: Bru men from the Naisingpara camp carry a woman and her children

Pipe dream: A Reang (Bru) man enjoys a smoke on his maktuk (pipe)

Safety patrol: Security personnel keep vigil at the relief camps in Tripura, where over 11,000 refugees continue to reside

No farewell to arms: A Bru boy holds the barrel of the gun of a security personnel.Malnutrition, among other diseases, is widespread at the camps

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Ferrying around: Diagnosed with malaria, a Bru child rests in a makeshift cot at Naisingpara relief camp. She will be carried to the nearest hospital in the cradle
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