An activist has urged the Commissioner (home), government of Manipur to evacuate 22 Meiteis who are currently taking shelter at KLP Camp of Assam Rifles in Moreh to Imphal.
The activist, Keisam Pradipkumar, stated in the letter to the commissioner (home) that he came to know through news published in local newspapers that 22 Meitei are taking shelter at AR Camp in Moreh.
Inter alia, after taking shelter inside Myanmar for about three months following the clash that broke out on May 3, several individuals had been taking shelter inside the campus of KLP Camp Assam Rifles under supervision of the state government and the security forces, he added.
Several Meiteis who were taking shelter inside the camp were evacuated to Imphal and other valley areas. However, 22 of them still remain inside the camp, facing step-motherly treatment, he alleged.
According to the report, the 22 Meiteis have approached the concerned AR and sub-division officers to evacuate them to the valley area. However, they were still kept inside the camp, saying that the state government did not give permission for the evacuation.
Most of the individuals are facing difficulties without proper food nor clothes for sleeping purposes, he alleged.
During ethnic clashes, people are forced to flee or leave their homes and displaced people suffer significantly higher rates of mortality than the general population. They also remain at high risk of physical attack, sexual assault, abduction and frequently are deprived of adequate shelter, food and health services, the activist said.
“Displacement shatters lives for years and generations, creates severe hardship and suffering, breaks up families, cuts social and cultural ties, disrupts education and development, denies access to vital necessities and exposes innocents to abhorrent human rights abuses”, he said.
He said thousands of central security forces were airlifted to control the ongoing ethnic clashes and the security forces were deployed at every knock and corner of the state. Therefore, evacuation of 22 Meitei from Moreh to Imphal would not be a difficult task, and earlier security forces evacuated a substantial number of Meitei individuals from Moreh to Imphal without any difficulties.
