The Home Ministry had set October 18 as the deadline for the repatriation process. “The State Government would seek for more time as the administration of Mamit district, where maximum number of the Bru refugees would be resettled after repatriation, is engaged in rescue and relief operations in the area hit by landslides, triggered by heavy rains,” official sources said.
“The officials are engaged in relief operations and are unable to prepare for the repatriation process during October,” he said.
Meanwhile, the joint verification of villages where the refugees were proposed to be resettled was almost complete in Mamit, he said.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, during his visit to Aizawl on May 25, had urged Bru leaders to ensure that all the refugees return to Mizoram from Tripura by October end.