Amid the COVID-19 lockdown, two groups in Tripura on Saturday protest permanent settlement of Bru refugees from Mizoram in Tripura.
A joint team of Nagarik Suraksha Mancha and the Mizo Convention submitted a memorandum to Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb protesting the proposed settlement of the displaced Brus in Kanchanpur Sub-Divisionin North Tripura district, The Hindu reported.
“Leaders of the two organisations gave the memorandum yesterday (Saturday),” Kanchanpur’s Sub-Divisional Magistrate Chandni Chandran said.
More than 40,000 Brus have been living in six refugee camps in northern Tripura’s Kanchanpur and Panisagar subdivisions since 1997 when they escaped ethnic violence in adjoining Mizoram.
About 7,000 refugees returned to Mizoram after nine phases of repatriation till November 30, 2019.
The Centre, the governments of Mizoram and Tripura and leaders of Bru organisations signed a quadripartite agreement in January to let the remaining 35,000 refugees who have stayed back to be resettled in Tripura.