Imphal, April 11: Nearly 200 Hmars, displaced by the ethnic conflict in Assam’s Cachar and North Cachar Hills districts, reached here this afternoon.
They were later transported to Churachandpur district, where they will put up in a relief camp.
Of the 196 tribals who reached here in three buses, 61 are children and 44 women. After fleeing their homes in the Hmartlangmawi and Tlangmawi villages on April 3, they spent five days at the Lumding railway station before travelling to Dimapur by train.
Leaders of Hmar student and youth organisations received the refugees at New Lambulane here. The tribals were provided with food and clothes at a church.
A government doctor, Thari, also examined the sick children and administered medicines. She said several children were suffering from high fever and lung infections. One malaria case had also been detected, she added.
The fleeing Hmars include 55-year-old V.L. Hnuna, village council member, who lost his elder brother and his three children as well as his daughter-in-law in the conflict. He said his relatives were killed after they refused to leave home.
“My brother and his children decided to stay back while the rest fled. The carnage took place the day after we fled our homes,” he said.
He added that 110 houses were burnt in the two villages. A large group of tribals had also fled to Meghalaya, where a large number of homeless Hmars are already taking shelter, he said.
From the church, the refugees were escorted to Churachandpur, which has a significant Hmar population. The displaced will be housed at the Rengkai community hall in the district headquarters.
John Pulamte, vice-president of the Hmar Students’ Association, Churachandpur, said providing relief to 200 tribals would not be an easy task and appealed to Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh to extend humanitarian aid to the refugees.