GUWAHATI: Displaced from their homes in Mizoram , nearly 7,000 children among 32,875 Bru people, who have been living in temporary camps in Tripura for 21 years now, without access to basic necessities of life but almost one in every 10 of these children are consuming alcohol, tobacco, and even drugs.

These findings have been reported by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights based on a study by Quality Council of India (QCI) on the living conditions of the community ahead of their repatriation to Mizoram, which has to be complete by September 30 following an agreement between centre, state governments of Tripura and Mizoram and the Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum.

Ethnic flare-up in Mizoram in 1997 forced the Bru or the Reang community people to flee from their homes to neighbouring Tripura and they were housed in six make-shift refugee camps located in Kanchanpur and Panisagar sub-divisions of North Tripura district.

The report states that the displaced families "living in the camps do not have access to necessities of life such as clean drinking water, sanitation facilities, electricity, etc. Individuals have to travel long distances to gather water for their families from the stream which was muddy."

According to the findings, most of the people resort to temporary toilets, with the bamboo enclosure or open defecation. Some of the households had solar panels, either self-purchased or provided by the Government owing to the absence of electrical connections. There is also no system for waste-disposal and as a result, daily waste is scattered across the camps, which might be leading to various diseases among the residents of the camps.

There is no availability of burial or cremation ground in camps. "As a result, they have to travel the long distance to perform the last rituals," the report said and added, "Almost 1 in every 10 children are consuming alcohol, tobacco, and in some cases, even drugs are being consumed."

Very few children and their parents in the camps possess any vocational skill and majority of both, father and mother, are unskilled, working as daily wage labourer or relying on the forests for their livelihood, the report stated.

The commission’s report that was released recently has also flagged security as a major concern for these people after they return to their homes in Mizoram. The commission has recommended Mizoram "to build a sense of security and confidence among the community, the members of the community should be included in different administrative committees at the police station, district and state levels in Mizoram" and the "youth of the community should be provided with the opportunities to join Assam Rifles and other defence forces along with state police force."

The report said that the advisor (North East) of MHA, Mahesh Singla, while sharing his concerns about the security of the Brus, post the repatriation to Mizoram said that security in Mizoram is one of the most important concerns of the community and central government has proposed to allot Rs 2.5 crore for enhancing the security in the allotted villages for Brus in Mizoram. "However, he said that in addition to the support from MHA, attempts should be made by the Government of Mizoram to build a sense of security and confidence among the Brus residing in the camps. Government of Mizoram should setup some awareness campaigns in the makeshift camps, so that people will understand the conditions of and benefits of repatriating to Mizoram," the report stated.

