‘Maybe we can go back some day’: Efforts to resettle Manipur’s displaced families hit hurdles — some bigger than others

Of the large number of people displaced by the conflict, Nabin is among a small percentage to have received an instalment of funds from the state government to rebuild their damaged homes and have tentatively returned to their villages.

Leitanpokpi village is located at the very edge of Meitei-majority Imphal East district, and the hills of Kuki-Zo-majority Kangpokpi district rise just a short distance behind his under-construction house. On the night of May 3, 2023, when the conflict reached the village and several houses went up in flames, residents fled.

Such “fringe areas”, where Meitei and Kuki-Zo settlements are in close proximity to each other, have seen some of the most sustained tensions as the conflict drew out over the months and years. However, since November last year, incidents of violence in these areas have largely died down and the state government has been exploring the possibility of resettling some of the over 58,000 people displaced in the state, beginning with the residents of such villages.

Nabin Singh in front of the under-construction house (Express photo)

Earlier this year, then Chief Secretary P K Singh had even announced an ambitious plan to complete the resettlement of people from such “fringe areas” in phases by December and close down the over 280 relief camps in operation in the state. The idea was to facilitate a move back to their homes for the people in these camps, and where this is not possible, house them in prefabricated homes.

Challenges on the ground

However, on the ground, the plan continues to be fraught with challenges and gaps as the case of this particular “fringe area” illustrates.

Nabin had received Rs 2.5 lakh from the state government last year — the first instalment of the total Rs 7 lakh promised to those, like him, who had lost ‘semi-pucca’ houses. While he is awaiting the rest of the money and is now living in the half-built structure, he says he continues to be dependent on the rations handed out by district authorities to displaced families. His wife and four children are still in a relief camp.

“My fields are over there, but I can’t go there and farm,” he said, pointing to the area beyond the “buffer zone” which begins next to his house. “Buffer zone” is an informal term referring to areas manned by security forces in fringe villages, and these mark the areas beyond which the people of one community cannot venture in the direction of the other community’s settlement.

The river Iril flows next to the village of Leitenpokpi and on the other side is the village of Dolaithabi. It is visible from Leitanpokpi, but is located beyond the buffer zone. While around 20 families are in the process of rebuilding and repairing their houses under heavy security presence in Leitanpokpi, the Meitei residents of Dolaithabi have not set foot in their village for over two years.

Dolaithabi residents are scattered across different relief camps in Imphal East. Boboi Tongbram is currently living with his family in a prefabricated structure in a relief camp in Sawombung, along with 168 other families from other places such as Ekou and Saikul — located even beyond Dolaithabi — as well as from Kangpokpi town, Churachandpur, Gwaltabi and Serou.

“My family received Rs 2.5 lakh for the purpose of rebuilding our house, but we haven’t been able to use the money because we aren’t even permitted to go to the village. Our fields have also been inaccessible to us. So, we continue to live in the camp and are dependent on the rations we get,” Tongbram said.

An Imphal East district administration official said that security concerns continue to dictate actions in these areas.

“For Dolaithabi, a first instalment of funds was paid to the heads of 37 families last year after we had gone to the village and assessed the damage. However, they cannot go there because of security concerns as it is located very near a Kuki village. There are discussions ongoing for building a prefabricated security barrack in the village so that security personnel can be stationed there, after which resettlement may be possible,” he said. However, in the case of settlements such as Ekou, which are located even further beyond the buffer zone, the official said that even a damage assessment has not yet been done.

“It is not even accessible for officers like me to go and assess the damage, so the question of resettlement is very far away,” said the official, who is a Meitei.

At the Churachandpur relief camp (Express photo)

On the other side

In another “fringe area”, in the villages of Torbung and Kangvai located along the border between Kuki-Zo-majority Churachandpur district and Meitei-majority Bishnupur district, a Churachandpur official said that around 70 Kuki-Zo families, out of around 200 who had been displaced, have trickled back.

“There is a possibility of resettlement here because it is a heavily guarded area with massive security deployed and is located within the buffer zone. However, some other villages in the same stretch, such as Ukha Tampak, are completely unreachable for displaced families and for officials like us because it is too close to settlements of the other community,” said the official, who is from the Kuki-Zo community.

For the other Kuki-Zo families displaced by the violence in Kangvai in the early days of the conflict, the threadbare life in a relief camp continues. Hatneikim, who was displaced from Kangvai on May 3, 2023 and her home was damaged, said she has not received any funds for resettlement. She and her family live in a basic relief camp set up in a mission compound in Churachandpur town, about 10 km from her home.

The living conditions in the camp she lives in are rudimentary. The families do not have access to livelihood opportunities and depend on food rations supplied by the district administration. The setup for drinking water is drawing turbid water from a well in the compound and filtering it with a makeshift filter made of a plastic bucket, stones and sand.

“I haven’t even seen my house since then because it is located completely in the ‘frontline’, so even the Army does not allow us to go there. There has not been any conversation about resettlement with us either. The only money we have received since the start of violence is two payments of Rs 1,000 per person, and two payments of Rs 500. Maybe we will be able to go back someday if the conflict ends,” she said.