Union home minister Amit Shah has recently revealed that the repatriation of Brus from Tripura to Mizoram will not be carried out again and the remaining refugees would become permanent residents of Tripura.
As per reports, 1,165 Brus, belonging to 289 families, returned to Mizoram from the six relief camps of Tripura during the ninth round of the government-sponsored repatriation exercise.
Tripura royal scion Pradyot Deb Barman had earlier written a letter to Shah stating that the Bru community had strong historical ties with the royal house of Tripura and were forced to leave after the initiation of the Dumbur Hydel Powwer Project.
He had also requested the home minister to allow the Brus, who refused to return to Mizoram, to stay back in Tripura.
Also read: No more repatriation of Brus: Mizoram government
The decision of the ninth and the final phase of repatriation of the Brus was taken at a joint monitoring group meeting on Bru repatriation held at New Delhi on September 6 last.
Also read: Keep Brus in Tripura: Royal scion
It may be mentioned that thousands of Bru families fled Mizoram and migrated to neighbouring Tripura, following ethnic clashes triggered by the alleged murder of a Mizo forest guard by Bru militants in 1997.
Several attempts by the Centre, Mizoram and Tripura governments, to repatriate them since 2009 went futile as the refugees did not accept the repatriation packages.