Rohingya Muslims on the edge

A surge in anxiety among the refuges is perceptible as the Centre prepares to send them back to their homeland

Hyderabad: A surge in anxiety among Rohingya Muslims is perceptible as the Centre has stepped up its efforts to send them back to to Myanmar. Most of them, who are working as labourers in the city, are not elated at the prospect of returning to their homeland. “There is nothing left in our country for us. We have lost our kin and property,” they have said.

Non-government agencies estimate that there are not less than 3,800 refugees in the city. They are all staying in settlements, mostly makeshift camps on open grounds on outskirts like Balapur. Md Rafeeq. who survived the persecution by the Army five years ago, said his parent were killed in front of his eyes.

The whereabouts of his two sisters, who were seized by the armed men, are still not known. “Both my parents were shot dead in front of me and I received knife injury on my leg and I was unconscious when my parents-in-law found me. We travelled thousands of kilometres to escape persecution and India provided us shelter for which we shall remain indebted,” he said.

Rafeeq, who learnt the local language, ekes out a living by working as a labourer. Sometimes he returns home empty-handed. “India is not alien to us, as most of us visited West Bengal during good old times. If the Indian government deports us, we will be persecuted in our country as nothing has changed in our homeland,” he added.

Moulana Sultan Mehmood, a religious preacher who has learnt Hindustani (Urdu and Hindi) flashed his documents to show that generations had lived in Rakhine state (bordering Bangladesh). “This document which has a stamp of British is the proof that we have been living there for generations, which cannot be ignored.

But, unfortunately the authorities are in no mood to acknowledge this. We were nine siblings and I do not know the whereabouts of eight others. I lost everything now and bow before the Indian government to show that I am grateful. If government thinks us as security threat, it should dump us in Bay of Bengal, instead of deporting us to Myanmar,” he said.

According to Mehmood, the father Aung San Suu Kyi was most revered for his tolerance towards other religions. He lamented that the Rohingya’s were facing worst persecution, when his daughter is at the helm of affairs.

The NGOs helping the Rohingya Muslims in the City like COVA (Confederation of Voluntary Associations) is currently working in coordination with UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) also held that they were scared wit of being sent back to their homeland.

It may be recalled that on August 18, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to the Centre over the plan to deport Rohingya refugees. In India, some 16,500 Rohingya are registered with the UNHCR, and they spread across Jammu, Hyderabad, Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana.