Food Ration
Government has made arrangements to supply a standard pack of flattened rice for breakfast and rice and lentil for lunch and dinner. This does not meet the official state standard of Rs. 20 per person per day for community kitchen. The cooking is being done by volunteers from the camp. This food is inadequate to meet the nutrition requirements of infants, children, pregnant and lactating mothers, people with dietary restrictions etc. Even for the rest the food is grossly inadequate in terms of nutrient and protein requirements.
Medical care
The district administration has made arrangements for medical teams to attend to the patients in the camps. But this is inadequate. Though government claim to have enough supply of medicines, this is not available to people in the camps. The local administration has allowed a national organization to provide medical care in the camps. Accordingly medicals teams are attending to patients in camps in Raikia and G. Udayagiri with doctors and nurses from St. John’s Medical College, Bangalore. Medicines for common ailments are available with them but not anti-biotic which are expensive. Malaria is very common in the area and the camps are no exception. Malaria vaccine is in short supply in the camps. It has been reported and observed that a lot more people come to the doctors and nurses from Bangalore compared to the government medical staff. According to the medical team people come more for a few comforting words than for medicines.
Water and sanitation in the camps
Water has been made available through overhead tanks that were there in the schools and hostels. Additional storage tanks too have been arranged to store water. A few temporary toilets have been provided in the camps but that will not be adequate if people have to be in the camps for a long duration.
Water and sanitation in the camps
Water has been made available through overhead tanks that were there in the schools and hostels. Additional storage tanks too have been arranged to store water. A few temporary toilets have been provided in the camps but that will not be adequate if people have to be in the camps for a long duration.
Returning Home
People are eager to return home. But most people say they have no home to return. Those in the camp were not allowed initially to go out due to security reasons. People were eager to go back to their villages for the following reasons:
- To retrieve their belongings including valuables, cattle, etc.
- Some people had refused to leave the village, preferring to die there than elsewhere and their relatives were worried about their condition.
- Some aged and infirm people were left behind as they could not run, walk or could not be carried when people left the village in a hurry and their family members wanted to bring them to the camp.
People who returned to the villages had more shocks waiting for them. These include:
- Most were not allowed to re-enter the village until they re-convert.
- The houses were totally destroyed and all belongings looted.
- Those who had kept their valuables with their friends before running away were told they had no more rights in the village.
- They found their cattle stolen or with their neighbors.
- People have also received information that the Hindu families in their villages have decided to harvest the crops of people who have been forced out of the villages. These include turmeric, ginger, ground nut and paddy.
With their homes looted and razed to the ground, cattle and other properties either damaged or taken over by others and their standing crops being harvested by their neighbors, these families do not feel that they can return to their villages. Besides the Hindu militant groups announce with impunity that they won’t be allowed to return unless they re-convert to Hinduism. People in the camps have reported that a few have returned to their villages after undergoing the ritual to re-convert to Hinduism. As reported by various news papers these re-converts are forced to vandalize local churches, set homes of Christians and Bible on fire, and cry out profanities at the Christian faith as test of their re-conversion. All of these make it extremely difficult for people to return home.
It has been told by locals that while the Central Para-military forces (CRPF) deployed to contain the violence arrest and handover the trouble makers to the local police, as per their mandate, the local police let off the criminals immediately and this has made them more aggressive. This could be one reason why the violence has continued unabated even after the deployment of a large number of central forces.
Peace building
A few days ago some social activists visited the camps to talk to people about peace building. People confronted them with the argument that they have done nothing against anybody or indulged in violence and therefore it is meaningless to talk about peace building. The peace makers’ refusal to see reason in their point of view angered some and was forced to leave the camp.
Need assessment:
1. Improved temporary shelters:
- The camps are in school premises and schools are closed since August 25th. Schools can be reopened only after shifting the camps. Closing the camps does not look feasible as of now as people have no home or village to return. There are no visible signs of strong action against the trouble makers by the State so far and this has shaken the confidence of the people in the administration.
- Relocation of camps to safer areas with adequate security could be an option.
- More tents and shelter materials will be required to improve space availability.
- The condition of the camps is not satisfactory. 8-12 families with children, youth and adults share a small tent with not enough space and no privacy. The camp condition needs to be improved.
- The floors are wet and the continuation of rain makes it tougher for living.
- There are reports that the people are not safe even in the relief camps as trouble makers are allowed in by the police who guard the gates. People are terrorized even in the camps.
2. Food and Nutrition
- Government is providing rice, lentil and flattened rice to people in the camps. These are inadequate to meet the nutrient requirements of camp inmates. Children, pregnant and lactating mothers and sick people with dietary restrictions need special attention.
- People should be helped to do the cooking on their own for which cooking utensils, dry rations, etc may be provided.
3. Health and sanitation
- While medical teams from NGOs have been allowed to serve the people in Raikia and G. Udayagiri camps, the other camps are served by government teams and from what have been observed in Raikia, the medical care is inadequate and medicines insufficient to save lives. To some extent the NGO medical teams also double in as psycho-social councilors.
- The sanitation condition needs to be improved in all the camps. As days pass by, situation is likely to deteriorate if immediate steps are not taken. This includes disposal of waste.
4. Non-food items
The relief efforts of government has focused on providing tent materials (mainly Unicef tents) and food items that include flattened rice for breakfast, and rice and lentil for lunch and dinner. People who have practically lost everything needs clothes, blankets, cooking utensils, sleeping mats etc. As the affected areas are in high altitude, winter is already around and it can get severe by early November.
5. Education
Education has been hit very hard by the ongoing violence in the district. Schools are closed since August 25th. More importantly, children in the camps have no books and dress to continue their studies. They may not be able to rejoin their schools in the near future and their studies are at stake.
6. Migration:
Planning to move out
Religious leaders and people in the camp agree with the district administration’s claims that the number of people living in the camps have come down. But they do not agree with the administration’s claim that these people have returned to their homes/villages. Only those who have –reconverted have returned to villages. Many others have left the camps to join their relatives in distant places like Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, and Kerala. Many relief camps have been set up by non-government actors at Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. The inmates of these camps also need to be brought under the purview of relief and rehabilitation. The youths are also migrating in large numbers to cities in search of employment opportunities. Parents are extremely worried about the safety of their grown up daughters in the camps as there have been several reports of molestation.
7. Rehabilitation
The displaced and homeless people need to be rehabilitated at the earliest. Providing them safe and secure home to live in without fear and helping them earn a living for themselves are crucial to bring about semblance of normalcy in their lives. While people would like to return to their villages and get back their homes, land and other assets, the fear factor will prevent them from doing so. The state and non-state actors have to work together to ensure that the displaced and frightened people are helped to survive and overcome the fear and resettle to a normal life at the earliest. Otherwise this would be seen as a successful ethnic cleansing by the fundamentalist Hindutva groups and lead to more such efforts in the future.
Conclusion
The situation in Khandamal remains very grim. People are too scared to think of returning home. Most have no home to return. People have lost confidence in the local police who have failed to perform their duties and to be seen as unbiased. The government has not been able to provide the bare minimum humanitarian assistance to the displaced people who have become refugees in their own land. The humanitarian organizations have to come forward to face this humanitarian crisis, even though there could be hesitation on the part of the local and state administration to involve them in the relief and rehabilitation programme citing security reasons. It should be possible for the humanitarian organizations to work with the local administration through strategic planning and intervention.
Call for solidarity and responsiveness:
As the global church in general and Indian church in particular pray for the cessation of violence and restoration of peace in Khandamal, the displaced, traumatized, and persecuted Christians in Khandamal needs the helping hand of all to restart their life as dignified human beings. The needs are many and funds required huge. But the little sacrifice that we make to demonstrate our love and concern for our suffering brethren can go a long way to save, protect and rebuild their lives.
Sebastian Theruvankunnel
Bhubaneswar
9 October 2008
