Rohingya refugees in India allege spate of attacks by miscreants

Munawar Zaman

PressTV, New Delhi

Terrified by the expulsion drive in India, Rohingya refugees now allege intimidation and physical abuse by villains. As munawar zaman reports, a number of children and women were beaten up in one of the refugee camps on the outskirts of New Delhi as fear mounted within the destitute community. Here is the story.

Rohingya refugees in the suburbs of New Delhi are being threatened by a new onslaught against the community. They claim some men had attacked and beaten women and children living in the refugee camp. One of the women is critically injured and being treated in the hospital. Local residents claim refugee children had blocked a narrow road in the locality while members of the Rohingya community maintain they have nowhere to go. Meanwhile the city police filed a complaint and an investigation is underway.

India is home to some 40,000 Rohingya refugees based on official figures, but reports suggest there are hundreds of thousands living across many parts of the country. Recent expulsion drives from the government have forced many to go into hiding in undisclosed locations fearing detention, deportation and separation.

The Indian government in recent years has taken the issue of Rohingya refugees to parliament, with the majority of members calling them a security threat, and therefore demanding their deportation. Rights activists have time and again reminded the administration about the Rohingya plight, calling for an immediate halt to their deportation while stressing the need for a concrete refugee policy.

The destitute community is in utter desperation as intimidation, detention, deportations and night raids have become the order of the day. The Indian government calls them a security threat and prone to radicalization. For decades, the minority community faced systematic persecution at home in Buddhist majority Myanmar. In recent years the UN has accused Myanmar of genocide after hundreds of thousands fled to neighboring Bangladesh. Rights activists say the ruling BJP is fueling resentment since it won elections in 2014. It calls the Rohingya a security threat while the policy for refugees from other countries remains different.

Persecuted Rohingya Muslims are being treated as illegal immigrants wherever they have settled after fleeing carnage in Myanmar. They are now living in makeshift camps as refugees across different parts of south Asia especially in India, Bangladesh and Malaysia. Activists in India have stressed the urgent need to protect their rights as refugees and secure their survival rather than targeting them deliberately for political gain despite the fact that their lives are under threat back in Myanmar. They urge the Indian government to formulate a uniform refugee policy to treat refugees equally regardless of caste, ethnicity or faith.

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