Rohingya
refugees from Burma continue to pour into Hyderabad and no proper
account of them seems to be maintained. Though a humanitarian issue, the
security risk involved is ignored.
From 5,000 a few months ago, the number
of refugees from the strife-torn Myanmar (Burma) has risen to some
12,000 now in the absence of any check on the inflow of Rohingya
refugees from the Rakhine state of Burma. Myanmar’s 8,00,000 Rohingyas
are stateless people today after the ethnic Buddhists drove them out.
They are denied citizenship in Myanmar and are rejected by Bangladesh.
The UN calls them, “one of the most persecuted people in the world.”
In the past one month alone, 35 families
totalling 200 members reached the City. A revisit to the camp in
Balapur, Shaheennagar and surrounding areas shows that the government of
India and the State government appear unconcerned about them. Many of
them have no refugee status and some claim to have cards from the UN
high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR). Local Muslim leaders are
providing shelter and work for them. They are spread over Balapur,
Hafizbabanagar, Shastripuram and Kishan Bagh.
Mustafa Faiz Ur Rahman, a Burmese
refugee who has learnt Hindi, has emerged their leader. He mediates
between the refugees and the local Muslim leaders who are giving support
to the uprooted.
It is learnt that these refugees,
desperate and helpless in an alien land, are being used by the local
leaders. One thing that came out while visiting the camps was that they
do menial jobs or construction works for far less than the market
rates, which result in loss of jobs to the local people. The other is
that the local leaders who provide them support probably see them as
future investments.
Violence between Buddhists in
Myanmar’s Rakhine state and the Rohingyas exploded in June 2012. At
least 3,00,000 Rohingyas have taken refuge in squalid camps on Myanmar’s
border with Bangladesh. But Bangladesh has prevented them from
entering the country. And China does not allow them access even as
refugees.
David
L Phillips, director, programme on peace-building and rights,
Columbia University Institute for the Study of Human Rights, says
Bangladesh should be pressured to fulfil its obligations under
international law and provide a safe haven to those fleeing violence.
Despite its endemic poverty and sky-rocketing population, Bangladesh
cannot be excused for barring Rohingyas. The fleeing Rohingyas are not
entertained by either China or Bangladesh. They are all driven to India,
where no convincing check is evident.
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