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