Agartala: Even after four days of illegal influx from Khagracherri district of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of southeastern Bangladesh, the process of repatriation of migrant Chakma and Tripuri tribes could not start yet from Bangladesh.
State home department officials here on Friday said that civil administration of Dhalai district of Tripura had been pursuing the issue of repatriation of about 500 refugees took shelter in Gandacherra sub-division of south-eastern part of Tripura in three phases from June 1 following a communal clash in Bangladesh.
Ministry of Home Affairs has directed BSF and Tripura government to push them back to Bangladesh as soon as possible but the response of Bangladesh Border Guards (BBG) through whom Indian authority return the Bangladeshi nationals was not satisfactory.
“There were several rounds of meeting at different level with BBG in past three days for repatriation of Bangladeshi nationals and moreover, Indian High Commission in Dhaka has also taken up the matter with highest level of Bangladesh but the issue is still unresolved,” stated a senior officer of state administration.
He, however, pointed out that DIG level meeting of BSF and BBG in presence of civil administration officials of the state had begun early this morning to finalise the issue of repatriation of the people crossed over Indian Territory.
The officials also stated that identification of Chakma and Tripuri people who had taken shelter in Gandacherra has already been completed but about 100 more Bangladeshi nationals shifted to Chakma dominated areas of nearby Chowmanu and Pacherthal area of North Tripura in the houses of their relatives.
According to report, about 500 tribal, including women and children have taken refuge in four villages of Gandacherra area along the international border since Sunday last.
Allegedly, Buddhists and Hindu tribal had to flee from home in Bangladesh following miscreants attack in five villages in Khagracherri. Report also said that a section of fundamentalists had been pressurizing Bangladesh authority not to take the fled people back and on June 4 there were a big chaos where three persons had been killed.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar before leaving for Delhi on Thurday reiterated, ‘Our officials are in touch with the Bangladesh government officials and Indian High Commission as well with Central government over the issue.’
The refugees alleged that United People’s Democratic Front activists supported by the local anti-peace groups are always hostile and have occasionally attacked the houses of anti Muslim Chakma and Tripuri tribals and in August last year there was similar incident and about 1500 people crossed the border. (UNI)
