By Amy Penn

04/06/2017 Washington, D.C. (International Christian Concern) – In 2008, anti-Christian riots swept across the Kandhamal district of India’s northeastern state of Odisha, then called Orissa. The riots were the worst instance of anti-Christian violence in the history of independent India. The wave of mayhem left thousands devastated as communal violence shook India as a nation and terrified India’s Christian community.

While the riots started in Kandhamal, the violence spread to neighboring districts in Odisha, including Khoraput. In one community, Hindu rioters drove more than 100 families from their homes and into a government internally displaced persons (IDP) camp. Over the next several years, many of the families relocated to other districts and neighborhoods, but 34 still remain today.

International Christian Concern (ICC) wanted to better understand and assist the IDP families. Therefore, ICC traveled to investigate the living conditions and the future of these families, while also providing immediate food relief, including rice, dal, onion, and potato.

What ICC found was appalling.

The 34 families total approximately 150 people, including several pregnant women expecting their first child. Since the families’ displacement almost nine years ago, these families have lived in a government-provided house smaller than 1,000 square feet. They are living on top of each other, literally, and without a place to store the food assistance that ICC provided.

In addition, the camp is filthy and ignored by the government. Disease, trash, and sickness easily spread in such camps which endanger the Christian IDPs, especially the elderly, children, and pregnant women.

Is there hope of leaving? Perhaps. ICC learned that the government has assured the families that they would pay for new homes, but the families must provide the land. The families, however, are incredibly poor. They barely make enough to provide a meager food supply for themselves, so the concept of purchasing land is overwhelming.

As ICC concluded its visit and investigation, the families continued to express great joy and gratitude for the visit and assistance. Knowing that people around the world were praying and supporting them fostered hope and encouragement despite the atrocious conditions they live in each day.

Through the connections and relationships developed during this trip, ICC hopes to continue working with these Khoraput IDP families, both in providing short-term, immediate relief and long-term, developmental assistance.