Page 40 - Tehelka Issue 15 August 2018

Challenges galore for

Tripura’s Bru refugees

photo: tehelka archives

After languishing in relief camps for nearly 21 years in Tripura, • Fleeing destiny Thousands of Brus , also called
5,407 Bru refugee families are slated to be repatriated to Reangs, fled Mizoram after ethnic violence in 1997
Mizoram by September 30 this year, reports nandita sengupta ditions of schools, health centres, Angan-
wadi centres and the skill centres.
ust when 32, 876 refugees saw healthcare provided for their better
some rays of hope, a National future. education
Commission for Protection of The QCI selected a sample of 837 chil- In most of the schools and non-residen-
Child Rights’ (NCPCR) survey dren, 12 per cent of the total children tial special training centres, the QCI team
J conducted by Quality Council population, living in all six relief camps visited during the survey, nearly 38 per
of India (QCI) has revealed numer- in Kanchanpur and Panisagar sub-di- cent respondents between 0 to 6 years
ous challenges for Mizoram government visions in north Tripura district, where said they were not enrolled in any educa-
to ensure a better future for nearly 7,000 they have been living since 1997 when an tional facility. However, in the age group
Bru children who were born in relief ethnic flare-up forced them to leave their of 6-14, only 9.5per cent are not enrolled,
camps in Tripura and grew up with poor villages in Mizoram and crossed over to but the percentage of out-of-school chil-
facilities for education, healthcare, sani- Tripura for their lives. dren was found to be 35per cent in the
tation and living condition. An agree- age bracket of 14-18. “The reason identi-
ment signed on July 3 by Union Home Who are the Brus? fied behind the increase in the percent-
Ministry with Mizoram and Tripura gov- Bru or Reang is one of the scheduled age of out-of-school students in the age
ernments and Mizoram Bru Displaced tribes of Mizoram. Apart from Mizoram, group of 14-18 is the absence of educa-
People’s Forum (MBRDF), around 5,407 Tripura, Assam and Manipur have Bru tional facilities for secondary education
Bru refugee families will be repatriated population who speaks Reang dialect of in the camps. A staggering 21.6 per cent
to Mizoram by September 30 this year. Kokborok language and which is locally of all the respondents said they are not
What came as more worry is that almost referred to as Kau Bru. The tribe mainly enrolled in any educational facility,” said
one in every 10 children consumes alco- practice agriculture and has been prac- the survey report released recently.
hol, tobacco and other drugs. tising Huk or Jhum cultivation since long. Nearly 24 per cent of the students
The study titled Devising Pathways for Several attempts to repatriate the 5,407 admitted in the government schools
Appropriate Repatriation of Children of Bru refugee families have got delayed, and 48per cent of the students admit-
Bru-Reang Community have suggested mainly due to lack of an agreement on ted in NRSTCs said that they do not get
that the Centre and Mizoram govern- the compensation to be provided for books, for free, every year. About 36 per
ment needs to take extra measures to their rehabilitation. cent of the children going to government
ensure that the children get education In order to identify the challenges, school said that they do not get the mid-
as per the Right to Education Act and QCI teams visited and captured the con- day meal daily and 31per cent of the chil-

Tehelka / 15 august 2018 40 www.Tehelka.com