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India: National and state authorities failing to protect IDPs
Source: IDMC
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In 2009 and during the first half of 2010, at least 650,000 people in
central India (Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal), north-east India (Assam, Mizoram-Tripura and Manipur), Jammu and Kashmir, Orissa and Gujarat were living in displacement due to armed
conflict and ethnic or communal violence. An unknown number of displaced people were living in Indian cities.
In central India, armed conflict over land and mineral resources in tribal forest areas was ongoing. In 2009, government security forces launched “Operation Green Hunt†against Naxalite insurgents. The conflict led to new displacement of more than 100,000 tribal people from Chhattisgarh state to Andhra Pradesh state between mid-2009 and mid-2010. Of those displaced prior to 2009, 20,000 were still staying in camps in Chhattisgarh and another 20,000 in Andhra Pradesh. In addition, 8,000 people were displaced within West Bengal state, with many of them staying in makeshift camps.
In north-east India’s Assam state, about 170,000 people who had been displaced by ethnic violence were living in camps in deplorable conditions. In 2009 and 2010, new violence in Assam displaced more than 16,000 Dimasas and Zeme Nagas and 4,000 Nepali-speakers. 30,000 Brus displaced from Mizoram state in 1997 and living in difficult conditions in camps in Tripura state had not been able to return, and new Mizo-Bru violence in November 2009 displaced another 5,000 Brus. In Manipur state, 1,500 to 2,500 people had to flee their homes in May 2009 due to counterinsurgency operations by security forces. In May 2010, clashes between security forces and Naga protesters displaced 500 Nagas from Manipur state to Nagaland state.
250,000 Kashmiri Pandits displaced from the Kashmir Valley since 1990 because of conflict between the Indian army and Muslim insurgents were still living in displacement in Jammu, Delhi and elsewhere in India. In addition, military border fencing separated 15,000 people from their land in Jammu and Kashmir state in 2009. In Orissa state, at least 10,000 people who had to flee their homes due to Hindu-Christian violence in 2007 and 2008 remained displaced, and in Gujarat state, 19,000 people who had been displaced by Hindu-Muslim violence in 2002 were still staying in camps.
The Government of India has no national policy to respond to internal displacement caused by armed conflict and ethnic or communal violence. The responsibility for protecting the displaced and providing assistance to them generally falls on state governments and district authorities. This has resulted in wide discrepancies between responses from one state to another and even from one situation to another within the same state.
It is very difficult to estimate the total number of conflict-induced IDPs in India as there is no central government agency responsible for monitoring the numbers of people displaced and returning, and humanitarian and human rights agencies have limited access to them. Those whose numbers are known are generally those living in camps and registered there. A conservative estimate of the total number of people displaced by conflict and violence would be at least 650,000 as of August 2010, but the real number, which would include displaced people outside of camps and dispersed in India’s cities, is likely to be significantly higher.
Read the full Report on Internal Displacement in India
In central India, armed conflict over land and mineral resources in tribal forest areas was ongoing. In 2009, government security forces launched “Operation Green Hunt†against Naxalite insurgents. The conflict led to new displacement of more than 100,000 tribal people from Chhattisgarh state to Andhra Pradesh state between mid-2009 and mid-2010. Of those displaced prior to 2009, 20,000 were still staying in camps in Chhattisgarh and another 20,000 in Andhra Pradesh. In addition, 8,000 people were displaced within West Bengal state, with many of them staying in makeshift camps.
In north-east India’s Assam state, about 170,000 people who had been displaced by ethnic violence were living in camps in deplorable conditions. In 2009 and 2010, new violence in Assam displaced more than 16,000 Dimasas and Zeme Nagas and 4,000 Nepali-speakers. 30,000 Brus displaced from Mizoram state in 1997 and living in difficult conditions in camps in Tripura state had not been able to return, and new Mizo-Bru violence in November 2009 displaced another 5,000 Brus. In Manipur state, 1,500 to 2,500 people had to flee their homes in May 2009 due to counterinsurgency operations by security forces. In May 2010, clashes between security forces and Naga protesters displaced 500 Nagas from Manipur state to Nagaland state.
250,000 Kashmiri Pandits displaced from the Kashmir Valley since 1990 because of conflict between the Indian army and Muslim insurgents were still living in displacement in Jammu, Delhi and elsewhere in India. In addition, military border fencing separated 15,000 people from their land in Jammu and Kashmir state in 2009. In Orissa state, at least 10,000 people who had to flee their homes due to Hindu-Christian violence in 2007 and 2008 remained displaced, and in Gujarat state, 19,000 people who had been displaced by Hindu-Muslim violence in 2002 were still staying in camps.
The Government of India has no national policy to respond to internal displacement caused by armed conflict and ethnic or communal violence. The responsibility for protecting the displaced and providing assistance to them generally falls on state governments and district authorities. This has resulted in wide discrepancies between responses from one state to another and even from one situation to another within the same state.
It is very difficult to estimate the total number of conflict-induced IDPs in India as there is no central government agency responsible for monitoring the numbers of people displaced and returning, and humanitarian and human rights agencies have limited access to them. Those whose numbers are known are generally those living in camps and registered there. A conservative estimate of the total number of people displaced by conflict and violence would be at least 650,000 as of August 2010, but the real number, which would include displaced people outside of camps and dispersed in India’s cities, is likely to be significantly higher.
Read the full Report on Internal Displacement in India
