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Tripura: Two die at Bru camp, refugees blame starvation after stoppage of ration supplies

Bru refugees in Dasda town of Tripura have claimed that the death of an infant and a 60-year-old woman at a camp took place due to starvation after they stopped getting ration supplies,

The Indian Express reported on Friday. However, the state government disputed the claim, saying that the infant died at a local Primary Health Centre due to an unidentified disease.

Over 32,000 Bru refugees live in six relief camps in Tripura since 1997. That year, the murder of a Mizo forest guard in the Dampa Tiger Reserve in Mizoram’s Mamit district allegedly by Bru militants led to a violent backlash against the community, forcing about 37,000 people to flee to neighbouring Tripura. The Tripura government has planned to repatriate all Bru refugees to Mizoram by the end of this year.

On October 1, ration supplies and cash doles to the refugees were stopped under instructions from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, the Hindustan Times reported. The ninth phase of repatriation began on October 3.

“A two-month-old child and a 60-year-old woman have died while ration supplies were stopped in the camps,” Mizoram Bru Displaced Peoples Forum General Secretary Bruno Msha told The Indian Express. “While the baby’s family had eight members, only three got ration when supplies last came a month back.”

He added that the mother did...

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