Refugees finally get shelter in city
18 May 2012 3:24 AM GMT
After being shunted about the city, the 2,500-odd Myanmar asylum-seekers have been provided a shelter finally.
A charitable organisation, Zakat Foundation of India, has offered the use of a 1,100 sq. yard open ground in which the refugees could put up make-shift tents as long as they stay in Delhi.
Since Tuesday midnight around 23 families (approximately 100 people) have moved to this open ground situated near Kalindi Kunj area after being driven out of their temporary dwelling in Vasant Kunj.
Nazeer Ahmed, a 48-year-old refugee, said, 'In India, till now this is the only help we have received. We reached here around three in the morning, but at least we have a place to live now. They are giving us food to eat, but drinking water is still a problem. Many children were dislocated from their families because Delhi police had been forcing us to move to different places.' Another family lamented that ever since police forced them to vacate Sultan Garhi dargah, they were trying to gather the scattered familes together.
Zafar Mahmood, president, Zakat Foundation of India, said, 'This is a 16-year-old organisation and we have named this place Darul Hijrat as Da is abode and Hijrat is migration. There are small children, infants and pregnant mothers among the refugees who are staying here. This is our plot of land and no one can ask these refugees to vacate from here. We have given them medical helps as well as some of the families were really in bad health conditions. It is up to the Indian government to decide whether the asylum-seekers are to be deported or not, but we, as Indians, need to provide them basic minimum requirements on humanitarian grounds.'
Nearly 2,500 refugees have been living inside the monument since the last week of April after their fortnight long protest outside the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Vasant Vihar, which led to protests from residents there. But, because of the protests from four villages, including Rangpuri and Mahipalpur, which surround the monument, they were asked to move from the monument.
Later, the asylum-seekers were moved out of Vasant Kunj following a purported dispute over whether the land belonged to Delhi Development Authority, the Waqf Board or the Archaeological Survey of India. Ironically, minutes after a 10-member Myanmar delegation met officials of the UNHCR on 15 May, the asylum-seekers were forced out of the place. 'There is no place for us to live. Police gave us little time to gather our belongings. Refugees were sent to Jammu, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country from where they had come,' said Harul, one of the asylum-seekers.
Meanwhile, the condition of asylum-seekers from Myanmar's northern Rakhine state in the Darul Hijrat is still a long way from livable. Women, some of them pregnant, children and senior citizens have to bear the scorching sun under a tent. Some sit on the open ground with their belongings spread out. Food is hard to come by. With no washrooms, drinking water facilities, medical aid and a concrete roof above their head, the refugees are having a tough time here for the last two days.
'Looks like we moved from one jungle only to come to another. We only hope that we get our refugee status so that our children are not made to suffer and families are able to overcome financial hardship,' said Zafar Alan, a refugee.
Najam, Secretary of the Foundation, said, 'We are expecting at least 50 families to come and stay here. Documentation of the families is in process. We insist on that. We are also planning to bring a water tank to solve the drinking water problem.'
UNHCR APPRECIATES GOVERNMENT EFFORT
Earlier, UNHCR in a statement issued on Tuesday had said, ‘We appreciate that the Government of India will be issuing long-term stay visas for asylum-seekers from Northern Rakhine State who are registered with us. The visas will be issued at their places of residence in India by the local Foreigners’ Registration Office and will greatly increase their protection and safety in India. The UNHCR urges the asylum-seekers, for their own safety and well-being, to return to their places of residence in India, without delay and begin applying for these long-term visas. We remain committed to a dialogue with this community to continue exploring ways to improve their protection and well-being in India. And to this end, the UNHCR has invited their leaders to a meeting in September.’
A charitable organisation, Zakat Foundation of India, has offered the use of a 1,100 sq. yard open ground in which the refugees could put up make-shift tents as long as they stay in Delhi.
Since Tuesday midnight around 23 families (approximately 100 people) have moved to this open ground situated near Kalindi Kunj area after being driven out of their temporary dwelling in Vasant Kunj.
Nazeer Ahmed, a 48-year-old refugee, said, 'In India, till now this is the only help we have received. We reached here around three in the morning, but at least we have a place to live now. They are giving us food to eat, but drinking water is still a problem. Many children were dislocated from their families because Delhi police had been forcing us to move to different places.' Another family lamented that ever since police forced them to vacate Sultan Garhi dargah, they were trying to gather the scattered familes together.
Zafar Mahmood, president, Zakat Foundation of India, said, 'This is a 16-year-old organisation and we have named this place Darul Hijrat as Da is abode and Hijrat is migration. There are small children, infants and pregnant mothers among the refugees who are staying here. This is our plot of land and no one can ask these refugees to vacate from here. We have given them medical helps as well as some of the families were really in bad health conditions. It is up to the Indian government to decide whether the asylum-seekers are to be deported or not, but we, as Indians, need to provide them basic minimum requirements on humanitarian grounds.'
Nearly 2,500 refugees have been living inside the monument since the last week of April after their fortnight long protest outside the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Vasant Vihar, which led to protests from residents there. But, because of the protests from four villages, including Rangpuri and Mahipalpur, which surround the monument, they were asked to move from the monument.
Later, the asylum-seekers were moved out of Vasant Kunj following a purported dispute over whether the land belonged to Delhi Development Authority, the Waqf Board or the Archaeological Survey of India. Ironically, minutes after a 10-member Myanmar delegation met officials of the UNHCR on 15 May, the asylum-seekers were forced out of the place. 'There is no place for us to live. Police gave us little time to gather our belongings. Refugees were sent to Jammu, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country from where they had come,' said Harul, one of the asylum-seekers.
Meanwhile, the condition of asylum-seekers from Myanmar's northern Rakhine state in the Darul Hijrat is still a long way from livable. Women, some of them pregnant, children and senior citizens have to bear the scorching sun under a tent. Some sit on the open ground with their belongings spread out. Food is hard to come by. With no washrooms, drinking water facilities, medical aid and a concrete roof above their head, the refugees are having a tough time here for the last two days.
'Looks like we moved from one jungle only to come to another. We only hope that we get our refugee status so that our children are not made to suffer and families are able to overcome financial hardship,' said Zafar Alan, a refugee.
Najam, Secretary of the Foundation, said, 'We are expecting at least 50 families to come and stay here. Documentation of the families is in process. We insist on that. We are also planning to bring a water tank to solve the drinking water problem.'
UNHCR APPRECIATES GOVERNMENT EFFORT
Earlier, UNHCR in a statement issued on Tuesday had said, ‘We appreciate that the Government of India will be issuing long-term stay visas for asylum-seekers from Northern Rakhine State who are registered with us. The visas will be issued at their places of residence in India by the local Foreigners’ Registration Office and will greatly increase their protection and safety in India. The UNHCR urges the asylum-seekers, for their own safety and well-being, to return to their places of residence in India, without delay and begin applying for these long-term visas. We remain committed to a dialogue with this community to continue exploring ways to improve their protection and well-being in India. And to this end, the UNHCR has invited their leaders to a meeting in September.’
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