Bru refugees resettled earlier in Mizoram now raised the demand for same rehabilitation package to be given to the remaining Bru refugees who would be repatriated to Mizoram before September 30.
Altogether 8,000 Bru refugees who went back to Mizoram in the earlier process of repatriation under the newly floated committee called Equal Package Demand Committee demanded the same rehabilitation package also be given to them by the union home ministry and threatened to go for strike if their demands are not met by August 16.
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“We came back to Mizoram from Tripura as abiding citizens when repatriation was organised by the Mizoram government. It is sad and unfair that the obedient citizens are neglected. We demand the same and equal rehabilitation package which the union home ministry has offered to the remaining refugees,” the Equal Package Demand Committee said.
Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla also had urged the union home ministry to look into the pleas of the 8000 Brus who were earlier repatriated.
The Equal Package Demand Committee stated that unless their demands are met, they would even go to the extent of boycotting the union home ministry’s planned repatriation.
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According to the agreement which was recently signed, Bru refugee families, who would be repatriated to Mizoram from Tripura, would be given one-time financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh, a house to each family and free rations for two years. Besides, they would also be provided a monthly assistance of Rs 5,000.
Under the Bru Migrants Repatriation Agreement, displaced people, who are currently living in temporary camps in Tripura, would be repatriated to Mizoram before September 30, 2018.
Each resettled family would be given a cash assistance of Rs 5,000 per month along with free rations for two years. The Bru refugee families would receive house building assistance of Rs 1.5 lakh to be disbursed in three installments as per the agreement.
However the Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum (MBDF) had rejected the repatriation agreement signed on July 3, 2018. The forum signed a quadripartite agreement with the Government of India, and the governments of Mizoram and Tripura to enable the displaced Bru people to return to Mizoram.
The MBDF demanded that the housing assistance and other monetary package planned to be given on installments be given as one-time payment.
Meanwhile the Mizoram home department has been preparing for the repatriation process despite the hurdles created in both Tripura and Mizoram side