Over 4,100 Bru refugees living in six relief camps in Kanchanpur and Panisagar areas of North Tripura district have been resettled to new places under an agreement.
As per the agreement signed by the authorities in January 2020 in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, 37,136 Bru refugees from 6,959 families are eligible for resettlement at 12 identified locations in Tripura. These refugees were displaced from neighboring Mizoram after ethnic clashes.
“Of the total Bru refugees, 4,102 families have been rehabilitated so far while efforts are on to rehabilitate all Bru families in Tripura,” Principal Secretary (Revenue) Puneet Agrawal said in a press conference on Saturday. This process is likely to be completed by February 2023.
He said that apart from being given financial benefits, Bru refugees would be listed in the state’s electoral list and ration card and would be eligible to avail services like electricity, drinking water, education and health care.
Election Commission sources said that out of the total 37,136 Bru refugees, 21,703 refugees will be included in the electoral list of the northeastern state.
A senior election official said, “A total of 5,009 Bru voters have already been included in the electoral roll while the process to include all eligible refugees as per the agreement is underway.”
