Apart from the fear of death, what disturbs the refugees is the absence of hygiene in their camp.
"For the last eight months we have been requesting them (the local administration) to build good toilets for us, but they only mouth platitudes and we perform our ablutions in very unhygienic conditions," says Ilyas.
"Nothing has been done yet," he adds, pointing towards the makeshift toilets situated along the perimeter of the camp wall.
Asked if the state government has failed in its duty to provide them protection, Deb Pradhan says the refugees only trust God now.
He firmly believe there is no chance of peace ever returning to the land where his forefathers lived and died as Christians.
And with an election around the corner, the Sangh Parivar has upped the campaign against Christians by polarising voters along communal lines.
"Yes, swamiji's death is an election issue," says Ashok Sahu, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for the Kandhamal Lok Sabha constituency. "That's the reason why I chose Kandhamal to contest."
Image: The BJP candidate in Kandhamal, Ashok Sahu.
Also see: 'Many feel conversion is not the church's business' | India Votes 2009
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