Panic grips Rohingya refugees in Capital

New Delhi: Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on August 17 tweeted about Rohingya Muslims living in Delhi being moved to EWS flats in Bakkarwala in Delhi. However, the Union home ministry denied said it had not given any instructions for their relocation. The MHA also said that "illegal foreigners are to be kept in detention centers till their deportation as per law."

Millennium Post spoke to a few Rohingya Muslims who shared their fears after the MHA statement.

Abdullah Sultan (29) told Millennium Post that the statement by MHA had instilled fear in his mind. A daily wage labourer who is living with his family, including two children, broke down while speaking and said that he fled to India from the Rakhine State in Myanmar in 2012 because he had heard a lot about India's generosity and humanity.

He further told, "I was doing well there, I had a good life. Myanmar is my country after all. But I had to leave because it became a matter of life and death."

Abdullah said: "If India sends us to a detention centre or deported us to Myanmar then we won't be able to survive." He showed his UNHCR refugee card explained how they have been demonised for more than a decade.

"People call us ghuspaithiye, aatankvaadi, and illegal foreigners. We aren't criminals. We have faced genocide in Myanmar and sending us back will only cost our life.

Another Rohingya refugee Mizan, 20, said: "We have been living in this tiny room where we lack basic facilities. We have survived fire incidents, and during rain, water gets enters our tents. We don't get the most basic amenities such as a sanitation facilities and clean drinking water."

She further said: "There are no toilets here, so we go to the fields. It's unsafe for women but we have no other option."

She further said that they already have scars from the past. "If we are thrown in detention camps, then our lives will be ruined forever, she added.