Repatriation Begins of Reang Refugees from Tripura to Mizoram

Aizawl/Agartala: Setting aside the impasse over repatriation of 35,000 tribal refugees to their homeland, 233 Reang tribal refugees of 46 families on Thursday left Tripura for their villages in Mizoram, officials said.

“Under the supervision of the Tripura and Mizoram governments, the repatriation of the refugees will continue till November,” Abeda Nanda Baidya, Sub-Divisional Magistrate of northern Tripura’s Kanchanpur, told IANS over the phone.

He said 233 people returned to western Mizoram through Damchara (border town) in several vehicles, arranged by the Mizoram government. The North Tripura District administration provided food and security to them.

North Tripura District Magistrate and Collector Raval H Kumar and senior officials of Mamit District in western Mizoram were present during the repatriations.

A Mizoram Home Department official in Aizawl said the Union Home Ministry recently approved Rs 350 crore for rehabilitation, after the completion of the ninth phase of repatriation from seven relief camps in northern Tripura.

The approval came during a joint monitoring group meeting, chaired by Union Home Ministry’s Special Secretary (internal security) AP Maheswari, in Delhi earlier this month.

Over 35,000 Reang tribals were living in the relief camps in northern Tripura for 22 years after fleeing their villages due to communal tension. (IANS)

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