03.01.2007 - Source: Asian Centre for Human Rights

One year after the Kalinganagar massacre on 2 January, when 12 Adivasis were killed by police, there is no justice, compensation or sound policy on rehabilitation for the displaced ("The Displaced India: From Kalinganagar to Singur") [ID 18763]

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03.01.2007 - Source: Asian Centre for Human Rights

One year after the Kalinganagar massacre on 2 January, when 12 Adivasis were killed by police, there is no justice, compensation or sound policy on rehabilitation for the displaced ("The Displaced India: From Kalinganagar to Singur") [ID 18777]

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13.12.2006 - Source: Asian Centre for Human Rights

Land alienation and displacement ("SAARC Human Rights Report 2006") [ID 18228]

"The tribals constituted 8.2 % of the total population of India according to the 2001 census. But they also constituted 55.1% of the total displaced persons as a result of socalled developmental projects like dams, mining, industries and conservation of nature. The Sardar Sarovar Project, the largest dam being constructed on the Narmada river would displace 400,000 persons including 200,000 by the reservoir at the proposed height of 136.5 meters.[131] In November 2005, the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) alleged that the Narmada basin States were violating the Supreme Court order of March 2005 in the Sardar Sarovar Project case by disbursing cash to the displaced families instead of providing “land for land.”[132] Earlier in September 2005, the Government of Madhya Pradesh informed the Narmada Control Authoritty that out of 30,690 families to be affected in 177 villages by Sardar Sarovar Project at the proposed dam height of 121.92 metres, 17,288 had been resettled including 4,262 families in Gujarat. The remaining 13,402 families were yet to be resettled. These included a backlog of 13,233 families at the current height of the dam, which was 110.64 metres at the end of 2005.[133] These figures were contested by the NBA. The Jharkhand Government reportedly signed over 42 MoUs with investors including Mittal Steel, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel and Power Company Limited worth about Rs 1,69,198.26 crores since Jharkhand became a state in 2000. Approximately 47,445 acres of land would be required for the projects in mineral-rich Kolhan Region, which was likely to affect about 10,000 families and cause deforestation of 57,15 kms land.[134] A study by People's Union for Civil Liberties showed that over 74 lakh tribals were displaced in Jharkhand by different projects between 1950 and 1990. Out of them, only 18.45 lakhs displaced tribals were rehabilitated.[135] During 2002-2005, the Orissa government signed 42 MoUs with companies for proposed steel and other plants in the state and thousands of tribals would be displaced.[136] The MoU with Korean steel major Pohang Steel Company (Posco) signed on 22 June 2005 for setting up a steel plant at Paradeep in Jagatsinghpur district in Orissa with a total investment of $12 billion would displace around 4,000 tribal families.[137] About 1.4 million people, most of them tribals, have been reportedly displaced in Orissa between 1951 and 1995 due to dams, canals, mines and other industries. Majority of the displaced persons have not received compensation and rehabilitation. Another 80,000 to 1,00,000 tribals from 50 villages in Subdega and Balisankra blocks in Jharsuguda district of Orissa faced imminent displacement due to the proposed dam on the Ib river.[138] In October 2005, the Central government reportedly granted “forest and environmental clearance” to the multi-purpose Polavaram project being built across the Godavari river at Polavaram in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.[139] The proposed 46-metre high Polavaram multi-purpose dam is likely to displace nearly 2,00,000 people, of which about 150,000 are tribals. The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests also admitted that about 193,350 persons would be displaced in three states - Andhra Pradesh (175,275), Orissa (6,316) and Chhattisgarh (1,766).[140]"

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13.12.2006 - Source: Asian Centre for Human Rights

Status of internally displaced persons ("SAARC Human Rights Report 2006") [ID 18429]

"There were over 600,000 conflict induced IDPs in India in the beginning of 2005.[245] The IDPs included 33,362 displaced persons in Kokrajhar district and 74,123 in Gosaigaon district[246] of Assam; 55,476 Kashmir Pandit families who were displaced due to the conflicts in Jammu and Kashmir since 1990;[247] and about 35,000 Brus (also known as Reangs) from Mizoram who were displaced in October 1997 and took shelter in Tripura.

In addition, over 44,000 tribal Karbis and Dimasas were displaced during the Karbi-Dimasa ethnic conflict which began in September 2005 in Assam's Karbi Anglong and North Cachar (NC) Hills districts. Another 6,000 Hmars and Paites were displaced from Manipur's Barak circle.[248] In Chhattisgarh, about 50,000 tribals were displaced due to the Salwa Judum campaign which began in June 2005.

The IDP camp conditions were deplorable. During its field mission in November 2005, Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) found that out of the 44,071 inmates in Karbi Anglong and NC Hills of Assam, 17,971 or an overwhelming 40.78 per cent were listed as minors by the government. Yet, there was no baby food. Nor was there any special treatment for 200 women who were in advance stage of pregnancy. In Karbi Anglong, 32,871 inmates were provided only 8,504 plates, implying that four persons had to share a plate.

During a field mission in December 2005, Asian Centre for Human Rights found that the Bru IDPs camps in Tripura were in similar situations. The daily cash dole of Rs 2.90 i.e. Rs 87/- per month given to each adult Bru was extremely inadequate. Since 2001, the new-born babies have been included only in the census but not in the relief cards, making them ineligible for food items. Those who become adult in the last five years continue to be given rations as minor. The food ration of rice was so inadequate that displaced Brus had not even been reporting death for the fear of further reduction of the rations being provided.

Medical facilities were non-existent. The literacy rate among the Bru IDPs was only 10%.[249] The Tripura government did not provide any educational facility including under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (Education for All) programme of the government of India. Effectively, over 5,000 minors were denied the right to education and an entire generation of the Brus have been kept illiterate in the last eight years.[250]

No visible measures were also taken to ensure return of the IDPs. The Jammu and Kashmir State Revenue and Rehabilitation Minister Hakim Mohammad Yaseen stated that by August 2005, about 1600 applications were received from willing migrant families to return.[251] However, most of the Kashmiri Pandits remained skeptic over the return due to security concerns.[252] The Mizoram government refused to take the Bru IDPs while Assam government showed no intention to rehabilitate the IDPs."

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06.12.2006 - Source: Asian Centre for Human Rights

Forcible and illegal acquisition of agricultural lands, December 2006 events in West Bengal ("Atrocities at Singur, India: A matter of rights of the dispossessed") [ID 18940]

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05.12.2006 - Source: ReliefWeb

Protection of internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the national level ("IDP protection at the national level in south Asia"), Autor: Forced Migration Review [ID 18776]

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05.12.2006 - Source: ReliefWeb

Protection of internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the national level ("IDP protection at the national level in south Asia"), Autor: Forced Migration Review [ID 18943]

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17.04.2006 - Source: BBC News

India court warns on Narmada dam ("India court warns on Narmada dam") [#49406],  [ID 15439]

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07.04.2006 - Source: Guardian

Environmentalist arrested and forcibly removed to hospital after 9 days of hunger strike to protest against displacement of 35,000 families by dam project; scores of supporters also arrested ("Indian police arrest hunger striker") [#48486],  [ID 8120]

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24.03.2006 - Source: BBC News

Hundreds of tribes people attacked steel plant demanding jobs for people having been displaced by construction of site ("Tribals attack India steel site") [#47596],  [ID 8121]

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11.01.2006 - Source: Asian Centre for Human Rights

About 30,000 Brus fled from Mizoram State to Tripura to escape from terror of Mizo Students Union and Young Mizo Association; after Bru National Liberation Front surrendered on 25 July 2005 internally displaced are still waiting in relief camps for repatriation ("Despair in Bru IDP camps in India (ACHR Review 107/06)") [#42010],  [ID 8122]

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24.06.2005 - Source:

CIA World Factbook 2004: IDPs [ID 8123]

"[...]
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 92,394 (Tibet/China) 60,922 (Sri Lanka)
IDPs: 650,000 (Jammu and Kashmir conflicts; most IDPs are Kashmiri Hindus); 113,000 (resulting from 26 December 2004 tsunami) (2004)
[...]"

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09.06.2004 - Source: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (formerly Global IDP Project)

Report on internal displacement (background, causes, patterns), physical security, freedom of movement, subsistence needs (health, nutrition and shelter), patterns of return/resettlement and humanitarian access ("Profile of Internal Displacement: India") [#23760],  [ID 8124]

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24.05.2004 - Source: US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants

Annual report on conditions affecting refugees and asylum seekers in 2003 ("World Refugee Survey 2004") [#22816],  [ID 8125]

"At least 650,000 persons were internally displaced in India. Among the displaced were 250,000-450,000 Kashmiris, an estimated 250,000 members of tribal groups in northeast India, an unknown number of persons, mostly Muslims, in Gujarat State in western India. The government impedes international access to internally displaced persons, and labels them migrants. [...]

Displacement in Kashmir region On November 26, Pakistan and India entered into a ceasefire agreement and agreed to talks raising hopes for peace in the Kashmiri region, racked by ethnic, religious and secessionist conflict for decades. Although this reduced violence in the border area when Pakistan and Indian troops stopped shelling each other, violence and fighting continued in India’s northern province of Jammu-Kashmir. Both India and the rebels stated ceasefire between Pakistan and India did not affect their operations inside Jammu-Kashmir. A total of 185 persons died from conflict in Kashmir between the date the ceasefire and the end of the year. [...]

Displacement in the Northeastern region. All of the seven states in the region have major displacement due to ethnic strife and insurgency. Most of the violence in the area by rebels has been directed against ethnic non-Bodos and Bengalis civilians. The Indian government continued to deny foreigners access to most of the northeast. In Assam state communal rioting between ethnic Dimasa and Hmar erupted in March, displacing hundreds. One report noted 25 percent of the population in the North Cachar Hills fled their homes. Hmars drove ethnic Pnars were out of their homes for allegedly assisting the Dimasas. Fighting between the ethnic Meites and the Nagas during 2003 displaced an unknown number of persons in the Manipur hills, as well as Benaglis near the Assam-Manipur state border. Overall it is estimated that more than 20,000 persons fled their homes in Assam state during 2003.

In Arunachal Pradesh state violence has displaced at least 3,000 Chakmas in past years. Many residents view Chakma as refugees and resent their presence, although India’s supreme court directed the government to grant the Chakma citizenship in 2000.

Displacement in Gujarat State In 2003, sporadic violence and looting continued in Gujarat. Dominant castes and non-Muslims seized Muslim land following the 2002 riots.

The federal and state governments provided inadequate protection, assistance, and compensation to the displaced, most Muslims. Individuals released on bail from charges arising from the 2002 riots pressured displaced people to withdraw cases against them, threatening to use force to prevent them from returning to their homes. No estimates were available of the persons remaining displaced at the end of 2003."

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25.02.2004 - Source: US Department of State

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2003 ("Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2003") [#19765],  [ID 8126]

"During the year, there were reports that Bodo-Santhal ethnic clashes continued. More than 87,000 persons lived under poor conditions in relief camps in Assam as a result of the ongoing violence between Bodos and Santhals. On November 15, Assam separatists prevented candidates from Hindi-speaking state of Bihar from applying for jobs. It was reported that soon after, Bihar youths attacked and injured 50 persons from Assam. As a result, ULFA began attacking the Hindi-speaking persons, killing 40 and displacing 17,000."

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