* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Hundreds of thousands were uprooted by India's worst violence in a decade
Hundreds of thousands of people in India's remote northeastern region of Assam have been forced to flee their homes after the worst communal violence the country has witnessed in more than a decade.
Since clashes between Bodo tribespeople and Muslim communities began on July 20, at least 77 people have been killed, many either gunned down or hacked to death with machetes, and dozens are still missing. Around 400,000 people have been displaced.
The displaced - from both Bodo and Muslim communities - have taken refuge in around 300 schools, colleges and community centres in the districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri, but living conditions are far from adequate.
Many of the government-run displacement camps are hosting more than five times the number of people they are equipped to. Many camps are squalid due to a lack of drinking water and toilets, and poor hygiene standards. The cramped conditions - combined with soaring temperatures, high humidity and monsoon showers - have caused disease and death to spread rapidly.
More than 20 people have died in the camps, while tens of thousands of cases of diarrhoea and dysentery have been reported, say authorities. Around 8,000 children are sick, many with high fever.
There are also around 4,000 women who are pregnant. In some camps, women have been forced to give birth in unsanitary conditions with no medical support. There is little healthcare available for new mothers - many are weak, complain of post-pregnancy bleeding and are unable to produce milk for their newborn babies.
Aid workers say the situation is dire. Tarpaulin sheets, bedding, soap, clean water, utensils and baby formula are just some of the items desperately needed.
The government says the situation is now calm and security has been restored. Night curfews remain in place, and paramilitary forces and police patrol the main roads. Authorities say over 100,000 people have returned home and are urging all the remaining displaced to vacate the schools by Aug 15, India's Independence Day.
But many Bodos and Muslims languishing in the camps say they fear returning so soon, if at all. They claim those that killed their relatives are their very own neighbours and to go back is to risk being killed. They want round-the-clock security or resettlement elsewhere.
Hundreds of villages and homes have been razed to the ground. Survivors say their possessions have been looted. Aid workers say long-term support will be required, including compensation for victims as well as support for rebuilding homes and livelihoods lost.
But more important, is a long-term solution to ease tensions between the two groups. The Bodos have long fought for a separate homeland and after a 16-year armed struggle, they signed a 2003 peace accord with New Delhi, giving them autonomy over the four districts.
The Bodos say many of the Muslims, who over the years have grown to outnumber the Bodos, are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and are encroaching on their protected tribal land. The Muslims, who work for Bodos on their fields and construction sites or as rickshaw drivers, say they are Indian citizens and have voting rights but are marginalised by the Bodos.
This is not the first time that the two groups have clashed. In 1993, Bodos attacked Muslims and other communities. Around 2,000 died and thousands were displaced.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
