Bruno Msha, general secretary of the Naisingpara camp-based MBDPF, said they received a letter from the state home department for talks to be held on February 21 in Aizawl to deliberate on the impasse on the repatriation of refugees.
"We discussed the invitation of the state government in the relief camps and agreed to hold talks with the government as we do not want to stay in Tripura relief camps forever," Msha said. He dismissed charges that MBDPF leaders were stalling the repatriation process and not willing to return to Mizoram as they were leading luxurious lives in the camps.
He said the delegation of Bru refugees will include top MBDPF leaders and youth leaders. A pastor and an elderly person from the church will also be invited. The MBDPF has submitted their demands to former Union home minister P Chidambaram and the present home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, he said, adding that the demands included extension of the period of providing free ration from one year to two years, Rs 1.5 lakh for each family for rehabilitation, resettlement of 40 to 50 families and a school, playground and hall for Bru children.
Msha said the conditions in the seven relief camps in Kanchanpur subdivision of North Tripura district worsened in the last few months and they were facing acute water scarcity and healthcare problems. "When we asked the Tripura government for help, they refused to help us and instead told us that if they treated us so well by providing basic amenities, we would never leave their land," he said.
Many people were suffering from malaria; endemic gastro-enteritis also caused serious problems in the camps, killing many children, he said and added that the doctors' who used to visit them in an interval of two weeks earlier did not visit them for five consecutive months.
The Bru leader also complained that while they were to receive 600 grams of rice per adult and 300 grams per minor for a day, they were receiving around 300 grams to 400 grams per day due to shortage.