Rihan and his family
arrived in the capital on Monday morning, as part of a group of 30 who fled
Jammu after increasing persecution in the state over the past few months.
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A Rohingya family,
outside the UNHCR’s office.
Source: Oinam Anand
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By Aniruddha Ghosal @IndianExpress
New Delhi
He was born in
exile, in a shack in Jammu two years ago. Now, exiled once again, Mohammad
Rihan waits with his parents for things that most of Delhi takes for granted —
safety, some food and shelter. Waiting, after all, is what the Rohingyas have
become adept at doing.
Rihan and his family
arrived in the capital on Monday morning, as part of a group of 30 who fled
Jammu after increasing persecution in the state over the past few months.
His mother, Rushma
Tara (18), holds on to him while his father, Imam Hussain (20), sits outside
the gates of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) office in
Vikaspuri. Clutching a biscuit, Rihan, alone, seems to be at peace. The others
wait, restlessly.
“We want some food
for our children, a place where we can live peacefully and not be attacked, and
some medicines for those who are sick. In the past few months, things have
gotten very bad in Jammu. We’ve been there for a little over two years, but now
it’s too risky to go back,” Hussain says.
His fears aren’t
unfounded. Of the estimated 10,000 Rohingyas in India, 5,700 live in and around
Jammu. But in the past few months, demands for their deportation have been more
vocal. While some critics have alleged that immigration of Rohingyas is an
attempt to change the state’s demography, the BJP has petitioned the High Court
seeking identification and deportation of refugees. Last month, several
Rohingya homes in Jammu were gutted in a mysterious fire.
Once again, the
refugees are on the run. “My son, Hashen Sharif, is eight months old. He fell
sick after drinking the water there. He has diarrhoea and is admitted in a
hospital in Delhi. We have little food and no money. The shelters we had
weren’t enough to protect us from the elements. Others fell sick too,” says
Shahin Alam.
Hasina Begum,
another refugee, is called in by the UNHCR to present her story. After coming
out, she says, “They took down my story, the name of my daughter and our
demands. I asked them what do we do now. They asked me to wait.”
Ipshita Sengupta,
Policy Associate, UNHCR India, says, “UNHCR issues identity cards to registered
refugees. Registered asylum-seekers also receive UNHCR documents. These
documents are generally respected by authorities and help prevent harassment,
arbitrary arrests, detention and deportation. In principle, all refugees in
India have the right to access to government health and education services. The
government issues long-term visas to refugees, which further facilitates their
access to public services. UNHCR works closely with government, NGO and other
partners to ensure that refugees are able to live a life of dignity in asylum.”
She adds, “Refugees
and asylum-seekers who move to Delhi from other locations will benefit from
UNHCR and partner services such as facilitating access to basic services like
health and education, counselling, livelihoods, language training and youth and
community-based programmes.”
Sabber, founder of
the Rohingya Human Rights Initiative, adds, “We hope people who’ve come from
Jammu right now can get security and access to food and medicines.”
But for now, the
group sits outside the office. The narrow lane, in the otherwise affluent west
Delhi neighbourhood, has little to offer in terms of shade.
A tubewell nearby
provides them drinking water but food is a constant concern. Hurriedly packed
bags and metal trunks lie beside them. Asked what’s inside, 16-year-old Abu
Kalam says, “Clothes and some woolen wear. Seems funny to carry woolens in the
summer, but who knows where they’ll send us next? Maybe I can even go to
school.”