Imphal: The Coordination Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), one of the region’s powerful organisations, has drawn the attention of the United Nations (UN) to assess the prevailing situation of strife in Manipur by a special UN rapporteur at the earliest.
For the second time in the ongoing, 55th UN Human Rights Council session held in Geneva, Switzerland, Khuraijam Athouba, spokesperson of the COCOMI raised the Manipur issue on Thursday.
In his short speech, Kh Athouba drew the attention of the Council president stressing the need for urgent intervention in the dire human rights situation in Manipur, where indigenous communities are embroiled in a serious conflict exacerbated by gross border narco-terrorist groups and armed militants who are under the suspension of operation agreements with the Government of India.
In his speech, Kh Athoubal said that over 70, 000 people have been displaced since May 3, 2023; their fundamental rights are under threat.
The conflict involving cross-border immigrant armed groups escalated into a full-scale war in a multinational region in Southeast Asia.
The recent attacks against state forces at Moreh Bordertown using heavy artilleries are the testaments.
The immigrants’ armed groups have unlimited access to arms from Myanmar and Bangladesh and the complicacy adopted by the government of India prolonged the situation.
The duplicity of India stands for alleged annihilation coordination and several trans-border ethnic armed groups have given the conflict in Manipur.
It undermined it could jeopardize the situation further.
Given these circumstances, Khuraijam Athouba urgently appealed to the UNHRC to appoint a special United Nations rapporteur to assess the human rights situation concerning the ongoing conflict in Manipur to initiate a dialogue to address the issues of the unlimited illegal immigrants’ drug, arms trafficking, and illicit cultivation of opium/poppy to provide immediate relief to the 70, 000 IDPs with a focus on vulnerable groups like children and women and elderly
He added, “I trust the council will prioritize these matters and will act decisively to alleviate the sufferings of affected indigenous populations.”
The 55th session of the UNHRC began on February 26 and will conclude on April 5, 2024.