Communal violence in India forces up to 400,000 into overcrowded camps without sufficient food, water, medicine

Aug 8 2012

"Hundreds of thousands of people sheltering in squalid, overcrowded camps in India's northeast desperately need food, water and medicines after fleeing some of the worst communal violence in a decade, officials and aid workers said on Monday," AlertNet reports. Up to 400,000 people have fled to government-run camps in Assam state, the news service notes, adding Assam's Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "We are in a state of high alert. ... People in the camps are suffering from diarrhea, dysentery, malaria and high fever. We are concerned about the condition of the babies and pregnant women." According to AlertNet, "Sarma said around 8,000 children under two-years-old are sick, while hundreds of others have tested positive for malaria. There are also around 4,000 pregnant women in the camps who need medical support, he added." The news service notes that at least 12 people have died, including four children (Bhalla, 8/6).