22 December 2008 India: New and protracted displacement ongoing in absence of formalised response In 2007-2008, civilians in various parts of India continued to be displaced by internal armed conflict and separatist, ethnic or communal violence, as well as conflict stemming from the threat of development-induced displacement. Over one third of the country’s 608 districts were affected by insurgent movements in 2007. The armed movement by Maoist groups known as Naxalites was the most widespread insur- gency in the country and had displaced over 100,000 people of Chhattisgarh state. Clashes between a tribal group and immigrant settlers in Assam state caused the displacement of over 200,000 people, and communal violence in Orissa state displaced tens of thousands. In Nandigram region of West Bengal state, displacement followed conflict arising from the government’s plans to evict the local community and use the land for a development project. Some groups displaced for years continued to be trapped in relief camps or relief colonies. Over 30,000 ethnic Bru IDPs were living in deplorable conditions in camps in Tripura state while authorities in Mizoram state refuse to allow them to return home. India’s largest IDP group, the over 250,000 Kashmiri Pandits, were also unable to return after up to 18 years of displacement. More than 20,000 people in Gujarat who had fled their homes during communal violence in 2002 could not return to areas of origin for fear of further violence. The Government of India has no national policy to respond to conflict-induced displacement and the responsibility for protecting this population has generally been delegated to state governments. This has resulted in a wide discrepancy of responses from state to state, and between situations within one state. It is very difficult to estimate the total number of conflict-induced IDPs in India as there is no government monitoring agency and humanitarian and human rights agencies have lim- ited access to these IDPs. The displaced whose numbers are known are generally those liv- ing in camps and registered there, and so a conservative estimate of India’s current conflict-displaced population would be at least 500,000, but could be significantly higher. www.internal-displacement.org Map of India Source: University of Texas More maps are available on http://www.internal-displacement.org/ 2 India: New and protracted displacement ongoing 22 December 2008 in absence of formalised response Introduction clashes. Violence in Assam in 2007 against migrant labourers from other India has continued to experience a num- parts of India forced thousands of them to ber of situations of internal armed con- flee the state, and ethnic clashes in 2008 flict and separatist, ethnic, or communal led to the displacement of an estimated violence as well as violence originating 212,000 people who sought safety in re- from the threat of development-induced lief camps in the northern part of the displacement. These situations have gen- state. Between 20,000 and 50,000 people erated hundreds of thousands of inter- were displaced by communal violence in nally displaced people (IDPs) and Orissa state in 2008 and sought safety by prevented the return of many to their ar- hiding in jungles or moving to relief eas of origin. camps. While the majority of those in relief camps in Assam and Orissa had left At least 231 of the country’s 608 districts the camps by the end of 2008, it is un- were affected to varying extents by in- known how many of the IDPs have been surgent movements in 2007 (SATP, India able to return to areas of origin and Assessment 2007); the armed movement whether the return is sustainable. by Maoist groups known as Naxalites has overtaken all other insurgencies in the Communities living in situations of pro- country, at least from the perspective of tracted displacement in 2007 and 2008 geographical spread, with various levels included India’s largest IDP group, the of mobilisation and violence impacting over 250,000 Kashmiri Pandits who fled 18 of India’s 28 states as of August 2007 the Kashmir Valley from 1990 onwards. (Himal South Asian, 9 September 2008). Most of this group were continuing to The Naxalite conflict had by December live in camps in Jammu and Delhi, and 2007 led to the displacement of an esti- with separatist protests against Indian mated 114,000 largely indigenous people rule which had died down in recent years within Chhattisgarh state and from flaring up dramatically in 2008 following Chhattisgarh to the adjoining states of a land row, their return in large numbers Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Orissa. in the near future did not appear likely. This conflict, described by India’s Prime Minister as the “single biggest internal In Gujarat state, over 21,000 Muslim security challenge ever faced” by the IDPs remained afraid to return to their country, has the potential to lead to fur- areas of origin, six years after communal ther violence and displacement. riots had forced them from their homes. In Tripura state in the north-east, Bru Several new situations of internal dis- IDPs displaced from Mizoram state in placement emerged during 2007 and 1997 were languishing in deplorable 2008. In the Nandigram region of West conditions in relief camps and the Bengal state, conflict broke out over the Mizoram government continued to pre- designation of land as a Special Eco- vent this group from returning. nomic Zone (SEZ) that threatened to dis- place the local population. Thousands of It is very difficult to estimate the total people were estimated to have been number of conflict-induced IDPs in India forced from their homes in the ensuing as there is no central government agency 3 India: New and protracted displacement ongoing 22 December 2008 in absence of formalised response responsible for monitoring the numbers some of the most marginalised and vul- displaced and returning, and humanitar- nerable communities in the country, ian and human rights agencies have lim- which is leading to conflict and conflict- ited access to them. The displaced whose induced displacement. 33 million people numbers are known are generally those are estimated to be displaced by devel- living in camps and registered there. A opment projects in India, of whom a dis- conservative estimate of India’s conflict- proportionate 40-50 per cent are tribals displaced population, based largely on (PWESCR, May 2008, p.48). figures available for IDPs in camps in areas like Jammu, Delhi, Assam and In a large-scale effort to transform India’s Chhattisgarh or at identifiable relief colo- competitiveness in the global market, the nies as in Gujarat, would be over government enacted the SEZ Act in 2005 500,000. (EPW, 12 July 2008, p.25). As of No- vember 2008, 531 of these enclaves for Displaced people who have left camps new industry and infrastructure had been have not necessarily been able to return approved, comprising 67,680 hectares of to their areas of origin due to safety con- land (GOI, November 2008). Most of cerns and they may not have received those displaced by the zones so far have land and property compensation. For ex- not received either financial compensa- ample, many Christian families who left tion or alternate land and housing sites, the IDP camps in Orissa moved to cities and the policy of acquiring land for them rather than back to their areas of origin has sparked protests from local commu- after receiving threats from Hindus in nities fearful of being displaced and los- their villages. In Assam’s Kokrajhar dis- ing access to their means of livelihood. trict, displaced persons were “released” from IDP camps by authorities with a Jammu and Kashmir cash grant and without land compensa- tion, leading many families to start living Background as IDPs outside the camps. The Kashmir Valley is the most populous It is probable that many IDPs who have of the three provinces in the state of moved out of camps have not been able Jammu and Kashmir, and lies at the heart to find durable solutions to end their dis- of the dispute between India and Pakistan placement and should still be viewed as which has continued since both countries part of India’s IDP population. Taking became independent in 1947. The other into consideration the IDPs whose dis- two provinces are Jammu and Ladakh. placement has not ended after they have Predominantly Sunni Muslim, the Valley left relief camps, and the IDPs who were hosts minority communities of Hindus living outside relief camps who remain (the Kashmiri Pandits, who made up an uncounted, it can be assumed that signifi- estimated two to three per cent of the val- cantly more than 500,000 people are cur- ley’s population prior to their displace- rently displaced by India’s conflicts. ment), Sikhs and a small number of Christians. Jammu is roughly split be- Across India, development projects are tween Hindus and Muslims, with Hindus increasingly encroaching upon the land of in a majority. 4 India: New and protracted displacement ongoing 22 December 2008 in absence of formalised response In 1989, Kashmiri Muslims opposed to 2008). Whether the establishment of a Indian rule began an armed insurgency, new state government improves the tense leading to the increasing militarisation of situation in Jammu and Kashmir and cre- the state, widespread abuses of human ates conditions enabling the return of dis- rights and the deaths of tens of thousands placed people remains to be seen. of people (ICG, 21 November 2002, pp.1-2). Displacement of Kashmiri Pandits The past few years have seen some pro- Kashmiri Pandits were forced to flee their gress in Kashmir, particularly since state homes in the Valley from 1990 onwards.