India: Bru IDPs' return process stalled again
| Publisher | Norwegian Refugee Council/Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (NRC/IDMC) |
| Publication Date | 7 October 2011 |
| Cite as | Norwegian Refugee Council/Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (NRC/IDMC), India: Bru IDPs' return process stalled again, 7 October 2011, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4e92e0982.html [accessed 20 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The fate of about 30,000 Bru people internally displaced from Mizoram State in north-east India to the neighbouring Tripura State in 1997 and 2009 remains unclear. Between November 2010 and May 2011, more than 3,300 of the IDPs were able to return to Mamit District in Mizoram with the support of India's Ministry of Home Affairs. The Ministry's "resettlement and rehabilitation" package included INR 80,000 ($ 1,600) cash for each family and free food rations for one year, in addition to support for local economic development in the return area.
In September 2011, however, the returns stalled again. The returnees in Mamit District were subjected to an identification process to determine whether they really were from Mizoram, failing which their deportation would be demanded. The process was initiated by two students' organisations, the Young Mizo Association (YMA) and the Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), which in 1997 had played a role in the violence against Bru people and their subsequent displacement. Representatives of political parties in Mizoram, including the government's Congress party, also participated in the identification process.
