Mizo Student Body Doubts no of Bru Refugees in Tripura

Aizawl, Aug 22 : An influential Mizoram student body today expressed doubt over the number of Bru refugees in six relief camps in North Tripura who fled the state and said it has to be reassessed.The figure given by the Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF), which made a survey of Bru refugees, could not be accepted, a statement issued by the student federation, Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) said.

According to MBDPF President Elvis Chorkhy, there were 31,703 Bru refugees belonging to 5,448 families in six relief camps in Kanchanpur sub-division of North Tripura district as per a re-survey conducted by the Bru body.

The refugees migrated to Tripura in 1997 and in 2009, due to communal tension created by killing of of two Mizos by Bru militants.In the population survey conducted by the MBDPF during June 15 to July 28, the total figure was 27,261 people belonging to 5,421 families but it had to be conducted again as many people complained that they were not included in the head count.

The difference was that in the final compilation after the resurvey the number of Bru refugees increased by 6,442 and the number of families also increased by 476.The figure, after the re-survey, became more doubtful as the Tripura state government placed the number of Bru refugees at over 40,000, the MZP said.

"The MZP stood firm on the earlier consensus reached in a meeting of NGOs and political parties that the state voter's list of 1995 should be based to determine the bona fide residents of Mizoram amongst the Bru refugees," the statement added.

The population survey conducted by the MBDPF, following instructions from the Mizoram government, was seen as the first step for repatriation of the Bru refugees from Tripura as Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, while visiting Aizawl on May 25 urged Bru leaders to ensure that all the refugees returned before the end of October.

Meanwhile, the state government said that the final compilation of the Bru refugees would be scrutinized by officials and that those included in the Mizoram voters' lists would be repatriated in the first phase.