Mizoram Bru rights body seeks United Nation help for more cash, ration

AGARTALA

: The Mizoram Bru Indigenous Democratic Movement (MBIDM), a rights body of Brus, has moved United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) seeking urgent and better relief assistance to the internally displaced

Bru people

lodging in camps in Tripura and to intervene in addressing the issue on mutual understanding.


Claiming the present relief ration and cash-dole amounts are insufficient, MBIDM in a memorandum submitted to UNHCR on Friday said the relief rations and cash-dole provided to the displaced Bru are meagre and it is difficult to survive with the package.

Initially, the relief ration was 600 gm of rice per head per day for adult members and 300 gm for minors. The initial amount of cash-dole was Rs 5 per head per day for an adult member and Rs 2.50 for a minor.

The memorandum pointed out that minor members as of 1997 are still getting amounts allocated to minors even when 16 years have elapsed, and that there has been no bifurcation made in families that have separated after getting married and formed their own separate families.

According to the MBIDM, there are presently over 35,000 Bru internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in seven relief camps in Kanchanpur and Panisagar of North Tripura district. So far, approximately 800 families have been repatriated in six phases of repatriation initiatives since November 3, 2010.

However, due to allegations of lack of proper implementation of repatriation packages, particularly due to non-fulfilment of demands made by the internally displaced Bru Indigenous refugees in terms of formation of a Bru Autonomous Council, this has been discontinued.