Rohingyas escape trouble in J&K, seek shelter in city
The hardships of Rohingyas refuse to come to an end. After escaping their “persecutors” in Myanmar and travelling to the Jammu and Kashmir, the Rohingya population is again in search of shelter.
A few hundred Rohingyas have escaped the volatile situation in Jammu and are taking shelter in the city, along with other refugees. They are said to be holding refugee cards.
DCP, South, V. Satyanarayana said whoever does not have an UNHCR card will be deported irrespective from where he has come to the city.
“A special drive will be conducted in coordination with the neighbouring commissionerates of Racha-konda and Cyberabad,” he said.
Mr Inayat-ur-Rahman, a Myanmar national who is staying at one of the seven camps in Balapur, said security agencies are forcing Rohingyas to leave Jammu.
“I stayed there for three years. But three months ago we had to literally escape following trouble. We are unwelcome there and are being used as a political tool,” said Mr. Rahman, who lives along with his wife and a yearold son in the camp.
The hardships of Rohingyas refuse to come to an end. After escaping their “persecutors” in Myanmar and travelling to the Jammu and Kashmir, the Rohingya population is again in search of shelter.
Mr Mazher Hussain, executive director, COVA (Confederation of Voluntary Associations), said, “There was some unrest in Kashmir and so they came here in search of better livelihood opportunities.”
The organisation is partnering with the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHCR) and helping Rohingyas get refugee cards.
Mr Rahman is happy to be in the city; the 21-yearold works at a hotel and earns `200 a day. “It is enough for me to feed my family. In Jammu, we had to struggle to get work as there are a lot of securityrelated issues and nobody can easily get work there,” he said.
A man in the camp, who identified himself as Abdul, said that they had crossed over the border to India and had gone to Haryana and later to Jammu in 2013.
“We are looked upon suspiciously. With frequent checks by the police there, we moved away. A few hundred families who remain there will also move out,” he said. The first batch of Rohingyas crossed over into India in 2012 following unrest in the Arakan and Rakhine region in Myanmar. There are close to 3,800 Rohingya refugees staying in Kishanbagh, Balapur, Mir Momin Pahadi and Shaheennagar in the southern side of the city.
We are looked upon suspiciously. With frequent checks by the police, we moved away (from Kashmir). — ABDUL, ROHINGYA MIGRANT