New Delhi: Conflict and violence are expected to cause 69,000 displacements in South Asia in 2023, with Manipur violence alone causing 67,000 displacements in 2023, according to a report.
The Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) reports this is the highest number of displacements due to conflict and violence in India since 2018.
On May 3, 2023, a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organized in the hill districts of Manipur to protest against the demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status of the Meitei community. The march led to ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuk communities, ultimately resulting in the loss of more than 200 lives.
The Manipur High Court in March last year had asked it to send recommendations to the Central government for recognizing the Meitei community as a "Scheduled Tribe", an official status created to protect the minority from marginalization.This call faced resistance from other local Scheduled Tribes, including the Kukis.
Land disputes were also an underlying cause of tension.
"On May 3, protests turned violent in Churachandpur district and the violence spread to other districts including Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur Tenganupal and Kangpokipi, displacing about 67,000 people," the report said.
More than three-quarters of the movements took place within Manipur, but about one-fifth took place in the neighboring state of Mizoram and smaller numbers in Nagaland and Assam.
As the violence escalated, the central government imposed a curfew, shut down the internet and dispatched security forces.It also set up relief camps and established a peace committee for Manipur chaired by the state governor, but the initiative was hampered by disagreements about its composition.
IDMC said all people displaced by the violence were still living in internal displacement at year's end.
IDMC said that at the end of 2023, approximately 5.3 million people were living in internal displacement as a result of conflict and violence across South Asia, 80 percent of them in Afghanistan.
The Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) reports this is the highest number of displacements due to conflict and violence in India since 2018.
On May 3, 2023, a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organized in the hill districts of Manipur to protest against the demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status of the Meitei community. The march led to ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuk communities, ultimately resulting in the loss of more than 200 lives.
The Manipur High Court in March last year had asked it to send recommendations to the Central government for recognizing the Meitei community as a "Scheduled Tribe", an official status created to protect the minority from marginalization.This call faced resistance from other local Scheduled Tribes, including the Kukis.
Land disputes were also an underlying cause of tension.
"On May 3, protests turned violent in Churachandpur district and the violence spread to other districts including Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur Tenganupal and Kangpokipi, displacing about 67,000 people," the report said.
More than three-quarters of the movements took place within Manipur, but about one-fifth took place in the neighboring state of Mizoram and smaller numbers in Nagaland and Assam.
As the violence escalated, the central government imposed a curfew, shut down the internet and dispatched security forces.It also set up relief camps and established a peace committee for Manipur chaired by the state governor, but the initiative was hampered by disagreements about its composition.
IDMC said all people displaced by the violence were still living in internal displacement at year's end.
IDMC said that at the end of 2023, approximately 5.3 million people were living in internal displacement as a result of conflict and violence across South Asia, 80 percent of them in Afghanistan.
