The Tripura government has allocated land for the rehabilitation of the last batch of Mizoram Bru refugees, who were granted permanent settlement in Tripura through a Home Ministry-initiated quadripartite agreement signed on January 16, 2020.
As per the agreement, a total of 6,959 Bru (also known as Reang) tribe families comprising 37,136 persons, were to be permanently settled in 12 different locations across four districts in the State.
The settlement process has now been completed with the State government identifying and allocating land for the final group of refugees. The 12th settlement colony has been established in Laugangsom, located in the Santirbazar subdivision in south Tripura district, a district administration official said on January 14.
The last settlement colony will accommodate 633 Bru families. It will be spread over an area of 30 hectares that was previously unused. Work is currently under way to provide basic amenities such as electricity, drinking water and other civic facilities at the site.
Apart from land allocation, the refugees are receiving monthly rations, household items and stipend as per the quadripartite agreement signed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the governments of Tripura and Mizoram with the representatives of the Bru refugees who fled ethnic tensions in Mizoram in October 1997. The MHA has allocated ₹661 crore for the implementation of this agreement.
