3,341 Bru Refugees Return To Mizoram

Aizawl, May 16 : At least 3,341 Bru refugees belonging to 643 families have returned to Mizoram from relief camps in Tripura since November last year, official sources said here today.

The repatriated refugees -- 2,427 adults and 914 children below 12 years -- were mainly resettled in different villages on the Mizoram-Tripura border district of Mamit.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram is scheduled to visit Mizoram on May 18 to oversee progress of the repatriation process.

During his visit here on May 25 last year, Chidambaram had urged Bru leaders to ensure that all the refugees return to Mizoram before the end of the year and his ministry later announced that all the six relief camps in North Tripura would be closed by March 2011 and all the facilities provided to them including free ration would be withdrawn simultaneously.