Mizoram ready to receive Bru refugees: Home Min

Aizawl: Mizoram Home Minister R Lalzirliana on Saturday said that preparations to receive the next batch of Bru refugees were being made in case some of the refugees might agree to return to Mizoram from Tripura relief camps.

Lalzirliana told a news agency that the state government was making preparations to receive the refugees on May 4 as per schedule, even as only one family, out of 141 families expected to be repatriated from Hamsapara relief camp on April 26, returned on that day to Mizoram.

"We want all the bona fide residents of Mizoram to return," he said, adding that the government and the people of Mizoram welcome them.

He, however, expressed opinion that influenced by some anti-repatriation leaders, the refugees were not willing to return to Mizoram and created problems by making lame excuses.

Mizoram-Tripura border Mamit district deputy commissioner Rodney L Ralte said preparations were made to receive 149 Bru families from Kaskau camp on May 4 and the district administration would consult the state government if the refugees are found to be unwilling to return.

Earlier on Thursday, only a six-member single family returned to Mizoram under Police escort, on the first day of the fourth phase of repatriation and the Bru refugee leaders made several demands including formation of separate autonomous district council for the Bru community in Mizoram.

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Bru refugees refuse to return home

AGARTALA: The repatriation of Bru refugees of Mizoram has been held up, with the refugees refusing to go back to their homeland on Thursday, concerned officials said here.

As per the decision of the Union home ministry and the Mizoram government, 141 Bru refugees were scheduled to be repatriated to three selected villages in western Mizoram.

Two members team of the Mizoram government, accompanied by Tripura officials, arrived in Thamshapara camp in Kanchanpur early in the morning but the refugees refused to leave for Mizoram.

"We arranged 30 vehicles for the refugees to be sent back home, but despite our repeated appeals they refused to go back," said sub-divisional magistrate of Kanchanpur Dilip Chakma.

They did not cite any specific reason for their refusal to go back to their homeland except that they were happy living in the refugee camps and satisfied with the amenities there.

As many as 33,000 Bru tribes had been provided shelter in six different camps of North Tripura district adjoining Mizoram in October 1997 following ethnic atrocities. Several rounds of talks involving the Centre failed to resolve the issue even as the refugees led a wretched life in the camps because of increasing population and limited amenities.

Recently, the refugees had agreed to go back home after a meeting with Union home minister P Chidambaram and Mizoram chief minister Lalthanhawla. Accordingly, a decision was taken to repatriate them in a phased manner and as many as 300 families have been repatriated over the past one year.

About 669 Bru families were to be repatriated to Mizoram on April 26.

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Refugees' return to Mizoram from Tripura put off

Kanchanpur (Tripura), Apr 27 : The much-awaited repatriation of tribal refugees from Tripura to Mizoram did not start Thursday as the inmates are unwilling to return to their villages without a written agreement and arrangements for their security, officials here said.

'The Tripura government on the request of its Mizoram counterpart has arranged 72 vehicles to carry the tribal refugees to their villages under Mamit district in western Mizoram,' Tripura government's Revenue Secretary Swapan Saha told IANS.

'Tripura and Mizoram government officials have been trying to persuade the refugees to go to their homes in Mizoram. The persuasion continued till late Thursday night, but the refugees were adamant not to go home unless their 18-point charter of demands were fulfilled by Mizoram and the central government,' he said.

The demands include a written agreement between Mizoram, Tripura and the Central government and refugee leaders, ensuring of the livelihood of the Reang tribals in that Mizoram, constitution of monitoring committee to supervise the settlement of home-bound refugees, sheltered in Tripura for the past 15 years.

Another Tripura government official told reporters that the agitated refugees, including women, destroyed the transit camps at Kanchanpur, set up for the repatriation of evacuees and assaulted officials Wednesday night.

'A total of 669 tribal families comprising about 3,655 men, women and children are scheduled to be sent back in five phases from Thursday,' North Tripura District Magistrate Parshanta Kumar told IANS by phone.

As per the union home ministry's advice by May 15, the tribal refugees would have to be repatriated to their villages under Mamit district in western Mizoram.

A Tripura official said: 'A team of Mizoram officials has been camping in Kanchanpur in north Tripura since Tuesday to take back the refugees. They also held meetings with Tripura's district officials. The Tripura government would provide all logistical support for the purpose.'

Since October 1997, over 41,000 Reang tribal refugees, locally called Bru, have taken shelter in six camps in north Tripura's Kanchanpur sub-division, adjacent to western Mizoram.

They fled their villages after ethnic clashes with the majority Mizos over the killing of a Mizo forest official.

The stalled repatriation process got a boost after union Home Minister P. Chidambaram's visit to Tripura and Mizoram recently and a series of meetings with Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and Mizoram Chief Minister P.U. Lalthanwala.

Refugee leaders have been insisting that without signing an agreement between them, Mizoram, Tripura and the central government, post-repatriation activities and works, including rehabilitation of the refugees, will remain uncertain.

Mizoram Bru Displaced People's Forum (MBDPF) president A. Sawibunga said: 'We would not create any impediment in the repatriation process, but a large number of common refugees are not fully influenced by the verbal assurance of the central and Mizoram governments.'

The refugees, lodged in six camps in northern Tripura, 180 km north of Agartala, have occasionally organised protest rallies.

'The long-awaited repatriation of Reang refugees had resumed April 12 last year, but the process was stopped as most refugees were unwilling to return homes without a written assurance from the Mizoram government,' a Tripura government official said in Agartala.

READ MORE - Refugees' return to Mizoram from Tripura put off

660 Bru families to be repatriated to Mizoram from April 26

AIZAWL: The Bru refugees living in the relief camps at Kanchanpur subdivision in North Tripura district will be repatriated in the fourth phase to Mizoram's Mamit district from April 26. "We have proposed to repatriate 669 Bru families during the fourth phase of repatriation, which is expected to be concluded by May 15," Mamit district magistrate Rodney L Ralte said.

The settlements of the Bru refugees in the relief camps will be dismantled as soon as the families occupying them are repatriated to Mizoram. Ralte said the decision to dismantle the houses vacated by the repatriated Bru refugees was taken at a meeting with North Tripura district magistrate Prashant Kumar in Tripura's Dharmanagar on April 21.

He said the transportation for the refugees from the relief camps will be arranged by the Tripura government and the repatriated refugees will be brought to the facilitation centres established at Kanhmun and Zomuantlang villages in Mizoram.

The repatriated refugees will be temporarily lodged in the two facilitation centres, where proper identification will be conducted by officials and those confirmed as bona fide residents of Mizoram will be resettled in the Manipur villages.

Meanwhile, the Mamit deputy commissioner's office will disburse Rs 1.5 lakh from this week on to each Mizo family who fled to Mizoram from Sakhan range in Tripura after being reportedly intimidated by some members of the Bru community in 1998, the aftermath of communal tension in Mizoram leading to the exodus of Brus from Mizoram in 1997.

NGOs and political parties in Mizoram had insisted that Mizo families displaced from Tripura should be rehabilitated before the resumption of Bru repatriation. This had stopped the resumption of Bru repatriation, which was scheduled to commence from the first week of June 2011.

Union home minister P Chidambaram's promise, during his second Mizoram visit recently, to rehabilitate the Mizo displaced families and the state government's assurance to disburse rehabilitation packages to them paved the way for the resumption of Bru repatriation on time.

Ralte said out of the 83 Mizo families to be rehabilitated by the Mizoram government, 34 families, who submitted their reports that were later verified, will be rehabilitated first. "The 25 families, who have returned to Tripura, will be rehabilitated by the Tripura government," he added.

According to Mizoram government records, there were 3,014 Bru families living in the Tripura relief camps; out of which, 819 families have returned to Mizoram-381 families returned in the repatriation arranged by the government and 438 families returned on their own.

READ MORE - 660 Bru families to be repatriated to Mizoram from April 26

Mini passport office in Aizawl to be upgraded: Mathai

Aizawl, Apr 25 : Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai today said that the Mini Pasport Office or Seva Kendra in Aizawl would soon be upgraded and authorised to issue passports without sending the applications to the Regional Passport Office in Guwahati.

Talking to media persons while visiting the Mini Passport Office in the New Secretariat Complex here, Mathai said that the Mini passport office would now be functioning to process the passport applications which would be sent to Guwahati for issuance.

"Aizawl office would be expected to function properly and issue passports by the end of the year," he said, adding that he would submit his inspection report of Aizawl office to the External Affairs Minister. Mathai, who came here as leader of the Indian delegation to visit Mizoram jointly with the Myanmar delegation led by Myanmarese Ambassador to India U Zin Yaw to inspect the Kaladan Multi Modal Transport Project linking Myanmar's Sittwe port and Kaladan river of Mizoram said that the state would play an important role in the Look East Policy of the Centre. The Indian and Myanmarese delegations today visited Zorinpui Land Customs Station in south Mizoram's Lawngtlai district which would be a river and road link in the Kaladan Multi Modal Transport Project.

READ MORE - Mini passport office in Aizawl to be upgraded: Mathai

Abduction of workers taken up with Bangladesh

Aizawl: The Union Home Ministry has taken up the matter of the abduction of six construction workers from Mizoram by NLFT cadre with the Bangladesh Home Ministry, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said on Wednesday.

Mathai said here that security agencies under the Union Home Ministry were in regular and close contact with their counterparts in Bangladesh and the issue of the six people abducted by NLFT who were kept in captivity inside Bangladesh was taken up.

Six executives of the Assam-based Anupam Bricks and Concrete Industries (ABCI), undertaking construction of Indo-Bangladesh border fencing, were abducted by armed NLFT cadre from their camp near Mauzam village in the Mizoram -Bangladesh border Lunglei district and have been kept hostage for exactly a month today.

Though the NLFT reportedly asked for ransom of Rs 1.2 crore for the release of the hostages, the state government claimed ignorance of any parleys between the ABCI and the militants.

State Home Minister R Lalzirliana said that the matter was taken up by the Union Home Ministry as the ABCI was engaged in the border fencing works by the Ministry and that the ABCI did not ask for the help of the state government in securing the release of the hostages even as the state government launched combing operations in the border areas.

READ MORE - Abduction of workers taken up with Bangladesh

Myanmar ambassador visits Mizoram

Aizawl, Apr 25 : Myanmar Ambassador to India H E U Zin Yaw arrived here today to join an eight-member team of Myanmar officials to inspect a proposed land customs station at Zorinpui in southern tip of Mizoram.

The eight-member Myanmarese team, led by Rakhine state port officer U Tun Htay, arrived at Champhai, a border town in eastern Mizoram yesterday and the officials have proceeded to the site.

The ambassador and his first secretary, along with a team of Indian officials, will fly to Lawngtlai in helicopter tomorrow and inspect the proposed land customs station.

The land customs station at Zorinpui is crucial to the Kaladan Multi-modal Transit Transport Project, being built by India and Myanmar to facilitate trade between the two nations. The project, comprising waterway component and roadway component, will open up not only in Mizoram but all of India's northeastern states as hinterland for the Sittwe Port.

Traditional informal trade transactions have been carried out through this route for generations.

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Inter-ministerial team to visit Mizoram

AIZAWL:  A joint team from India and Myanmar will visit the site for construction of land custom at Mizoram’s Southern area on April 24 next.

The nine-member Indian delegation side will be led by Ranjan Mathai, Foreign Secretary while the 8-Myanmar team will be headed by Utun Htay, Port Officer, Rakhine State.

Ambassador to India and his First Secretary of Myanmar will also include in the Myanmar team. They will visit the site of Zorinpui Land Custom.

Meanwhile, in connection with the forth coming high profile visit Renu Sharma, Commissioner/Secretary,GAD, Planning, Finance etc today held a meeting with various departments in Saiha, a  southern Mizoram town.

The joint delegation from both the countries will have a meeting at Zorinpui Land Custom before meeting with Mizoram chief minister Lal Thanhawla.

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Mizo NGOs, parties agree on Bru refugees

Aizawl :Mizo NGOs and political parties have agreed on the accepting repatriation of Bru refugees on the basis of 1995 electoral roll. They will submit a memorandum to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram who arrived here in Aizawl today on a 2-day visit.

The minister who landed at Lengpui Airport in a chartered plane this afternoon was received by State Home Minister R. Lalzirliana and the Sports Minister Zodintluanga, after which  he directly proceeded to Thuampui Helipad by Helicopter where Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla, Finance Minister H Liansailova and senior officers received him.

The Union Home minister then rushes to the Raj Bhavan by road via Chaltlang. On his arrival in Raj Bhavan he met the Governor and had discussion with the Lal Thanhawla.

The Home Minister will also meet Civil Society leaders. A dinner cum Cultural Programme was hosted by the Chief Minister at his residence. The Union Home Minister will also visit Damdiai and Tuipuibari villages to see for himself the living condition of repatriated Bru families before he leaving Mizoram.

A memorandum was all Mizo political parties and NGOs prepared and signed yesterday at the meeting held in Central YMA Office which was presided over by the Central YMA President, T Sangkunga. The points incorporated in the memorandum included their acceptance of all genuine Mizoram Bru identified on the basis of 1995 Electoral Rolls, their demand for payment of compensation to 83 Mizo families who left their habitation in Sakhan area of Tripura because of threat and intimidation in 1997, laying down of arms by refugee camp based Armed Bru Militants who frequently created law and order problem in the Border area, rehabilitation of repatriated Bru families in their respective original villages and dismantling of all the bru camps in Tripura after completion of repatriation process. The meeting was attended among others by representatives of MUP, MHIP, MZP and all Political parties in the State.

READ MORE - Mizo NGOs, parties agree on Bru refugees

Easter Sunday observed in Mizoram

Aizawl, Apr 9 : Easter Sunday, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the death, after his crucifixion to save mankind from eternal death, was celebrated with reverence and happiness in the Christian-dominated Mizoram state today.

The Salvation Army musical bands roamed Aizawl streets and also in other towns and played 'He's arisen' to wake the devotees from their slumber early in the morning to mark the beginning of the Easter.

The Presbyterian Church and the Baptist Church observed the day with sermons on resurrection of Christ like 'The power of resurrection' and "God has resurrected Him' in all the local houses of worship, by priests.

Members of the Catholic Church in all the parishes participated in holy mass and community feasts in many parishes and the night would be for 'Adoration' and 'Benediction'. Colourful Easter eggs were distributed to the children by all the churches in their respective units.

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PC tells Brus: Be good citizens

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, who visited some villages in western Mizoram where Bru refugees repatriated from Tripura are being resettled, told the community to try to be good citizens. Addressing a public meeting at Damdiai village yesterday, the Home Minister made a repeated appeal to the Bru refugees, still lodged in six relief camps in North Tripura, to return to Mizoram ignoring problems created by a few Bru leaders to derail the repatriation process. Assuring them that the Centre would do everything to ensure proper resettlement of the Bru refugees from Tripura, Chidambaram said, " There is no human dignity in refugee camps and everybody should return to Mizoram. Fund allocation for the repatriation process will not be a problem." He requested the Bru community in Mizoram to convince their brothers and sisters now lodged in the Tripura relief camps to return to Mizoram. Meanwhile, the Bru Coordination Committee (BCC) submitted a memorandum to Chidambaram at Damdiai appealing him to extend the period of free ration to the repatriated Brus for two years. The BCC memorandum, signed by its general secretary Elvis Chorkhy, also urged the minister to establish Bru Migrant Facilitation Cell as proposed by the state government and start functioning of special development project in the Bru inhabited areas of the state. Chidambaram on Wednesday had told reporters at the Raj Bhavan in Aizawl that the fourth phase of Bru repatriation would commence from April 26 when 669 Bru families would return from the relief camps in Tripura. These 669 families, he added, were identified by the Mizoram government as bonafide citizens of Mizoram, and should not be doubted. Thousands of Brus fled Mizoram in 1997 following ethnic conflict with Mizos triggered by the killing of a Mizo forest official by Bru militants. Other hundreds of families fled in 2008 in similar communal conflict sparked off by the killing of Mizo youths by Bru miscreants. Over 3000 Brus had been repatriated to Mizoram in the first three phases until it was stalled by the Mizoram government in June 2011 to put pressure on the demand for rehabilitation of 83 Mizo families driven out of their homes in Sakhan Hills in Tripura by Bru militants in 1998. After the Centre decided to give rehabilitation fund of Rs 1.5 lakh each to the families, the Mizoram government agreed to resume the repatriation. Mizoram officials said this would be the final phase of repatriation as all the rest refugees would be taken back.

READ MORE - PC tells Brus: Be good citizens

Mizos brave rain to observe day

AIZAWL: Braving the pre-monsoon rain, Christian devotees in Mizoram observed Good Friday, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ to redeem the world from sin. The 'Procession of the Way of the Cross' was taken out by members of the Catholic church in Aizawl, but since the procession was disrupted by the rain, the church members continued the service inside the houses of worship.

The members of the Presbyterian Church attended special Good Friday services, where hymns on the sufferings and the death of Christ to redeem the world from sin, were sung and priests delivered sermons on the same subject.

While Catholic Church members observed fast, community feasts were organized by the units of the Evangelical Church of Maraland in south Mizoram's Saiha district to observe the day.

READ MORE - Mizos brave rain to observe day

Man Axes Drug Addict Son

Aizawl, Apr 6 : An 65-year-old man axed his drug-addict son in a Mizoram village, police said Friday.

The incident took place Thursday in Darlawn along the Mizoram-Manipur border, 180 km west of capital Aizawl.

The 27-year-old son tried to hit his father with an axe. But the elder overpowered the junior and hit him on the head with it, killing him on the spot.

The father surrendered to police and confessed to his crime.

READ MORE - Man Axes Drug Addict Son

Mizo tribes Integration Seminar held in Mizoram

Aizawl : Christianity is a strong force for the integration of all the Mizo tribes spreading in three countries, viz, India, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
This was echoed in a seminar on Mizo tribes integration held in a remote district of Mizoram on Friday.
The seminar was organized by Lunglei, Lawngtlai and Chhimtuipui Academy of Letters in Lunglei Art & Culture Auditorium on Friday, report reaching here said today.
Addressing the seminar, the Mizoram Art & Culture Minister, PC Zoramsangliana asked all the Mizo tribes to accept Mizo nomenclature for their unification. He asserted that the name Mizo coined by the forefathers is the most accurate collective name of Mizo tribes.
The Minister deplored the divide and rule policy applied by the British in 1890, by which Mizo tribes inhabiting the vast area had been divided and scattered in three countries, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. He also said, the present Mizoram is only one-fifth of the total area occupied by Mizo tribes. PC Zoramsangliana also described Christianity as the strongest force for reunification of Mizo tribes scattered in various part of the world.
In this seminar, the president of Lawngtlai Academy of Letters, Hrekunga presented his papers on Integration by traditional games and the president of Chimtuipui Academy of Letters, Dr. Chawngkhuma Chawngthu also presented a paper on Mizo Integration on folktales of the Mizos. The seminar was presided over by the president of Lunglei Mizo Academy of Letters, C.Hrangdula.

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