Struggling for Home: Families Fear Resettlement in Violence-Hit Manipur

Fri Oct 31 2025 14:37:30 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

As the government sets a deadline to close relief camps in Manipur, displaced families face uncertainty and fear about their future. Can they return to their homes after two years of violence?

Thousands of families in Manipur, India, are grappling with the impending closure of temporary relief camps due to violent ethnic clashes. Many fear resettlement plans will not ensure their safety, as they long to return home but face uncertainty over government promises and communal tensions. The resettlement deadline set for December has left many feeling anxious and hopeless about their future.

Thousands of people displaced by ethnic clashes in India's north-eastern state of Manipur two years ago now face an uncertain future, as the government plans to shut down all temporary relief camps by December.

The violence, which erupted in May 2023 between the majority Meitei and the indigenous Kuki communities, was the worst the region had witnessed in decades. It started after protests by the largely Christian Kuki community against the Meiteis, mostly Hindus, who were demanding official tribal status that would grant them access to the same government benefits and job quotas as other tribes, including Kukis.

At least 260 people were killed in the clashes and around 60,000 displaced people have since been living in temporary shelters.

Over the past two years, the government has made repeated promises to rehabilitate the displaced, but little has changed on the ground. Many say their lives remain in a limbo - effectively homeless and without a steady source of income.

Anxieties grew further in July when the state's then Chief Secretary Prashant Singh announced that all relief camps would be shut down by December and its residents would be resettled.

The government, however, did not clarify where these units would be - whether near the relief camps or near displaced people's original homes - worsening their concerns about future.

On the ground, Manipur remains sharply divided: the Meiteis inhabit the Imphal Valley, while the Kukis live in the surrounding hill districts; and security forces continue to patrol the buffer zones that separate the two communities.

As tens of thousands of people continue to live in relief camps, many complain about not getting the facilities the government promised them. The emotional toll is evident, with mental health issues on the rise as families struggle to cope with their displacement and the uncertainty of their future.

According to local voices, while some wish to start anew elsewhere, the fear of never being able to return home looms large, leaving many anxious as the resettlement deadline approaches.