KOKRAJHAR. India. May 4: Hundreds of tribal refugees in India's northeastern state of Assam are threatening to take up arms unless the local government provides them with food, health care and security, reports AFP.

Hungry and facing an uncertain future, more than 150.000 refugees belonging to the Adi-vasi tribe are getting angrier by the day.

The Adivasis have been living in makeshift camps since having to flee their villages after ethnic clashes with the aboriginal Bodos, who are fighting for a separate tribal homeland in the region.

"There is a near starvation -like situation In almost all the relief camps, with no government rations or security being provided." Robin Hebrom. a

young Adivasl refugee leader, told AFP on Thursday.

"We shall have no option other than taking up arms for survival."

The refugee camps are located in Kokrajhar district some 150 kilometres west of the state capital Guwahatl. Some of them have been in existence for five years.

An estimated 500 Adivasl refugees have already formed two rebel outfits -- the Adivasl Cobra Force and the Bircha Commando Force.

Both groups have been involved in abducting people for ransom, looting food-laden trucks and holding up buses on national highways.

"Both Bodo and Adivasl militant groups have been involved in kidnapping and looting. Security measures have been

tightened", said Kokrajhar district magistrate John Ingti Kathar.

Refugee leaders say the government's monthly rations of rice and salt are only sufficient for 10 days at the most.

Kokrajhar member of parliament Sansuma Khungur Bwiswmuthlary said the government had a duty to provide adequate relief and rehabilitation to the refugees.

"There could be turmoil if the refugees decide to pick up arms. To survive as human beings they can do anything, and out of frustration they may even take up arms which could prove disastrous", Bwiswmuthlary said.

More than 10,000 people have died in the past decade in Assam in violence related to the Bodo campaign for a tribal homeland.