Manipur: two years on, tens of thousands still can’t go home
Behind the headlines and the politics are families who have spent years in relief camps. This is the verified scale of it.
Ethnic violence erupted in Manipur on 3 May 2023, between the valley-majority Meitei community and the hill-based Kuki-Zo tribal communities, triggered by a court order on Scheduled Tribe status.
By government figures cited in late 2024, at least 258 people had been killed and around 60,000 displaced; other tallies put deaths above 260 and displacement over 70,000. More than 58,000 people were reported living across 281 relief camps.
Governance timeline
President’s Rule was imposed in February 2025, suspending the state government. It was revoked on 4 February 2026 with a new chief minister sworn in. Authorities announced a phased plan to close relief camps and rebuild, with compensation of about ₹3 lakh per household whose home was destroyed.
Rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have pressed for urgent, dignified rehabilitation, noting camp conditions with limited healthcare, sanitation and nutrition, and warning of renewed clashes.
The test ahead
Peace is measured not by the absence of headlines but by whether displaced families can safely return, rebuild, and trust the institutions meant to protect them. Transparent rehabilitation — counted, funded and verifiable — is the benchmark every government, state and central, should be held to here.
Sources · Free to verify
- Amnesty: rehabilitate the displaced
- 2023–2025 Manipur violence · Wikipedia
- Human Rights Watch: clashes restart
This is a sourced explainer built on public data — not original reporting. Every figure traces to a source above.