New Delhi shanty town blaze exposes plight of India’s Rohingya refugees
- Some 57 Rohingya families were left homeless after a fire ripped through their shanty town on the outskirts of the Indian capital last weekend
- The state government, controlled by a BJP that has repeatedly referred to Rohingya refugees as illegal infiltrators, has not allowed them to rebuild
The number of people fleeing wars, violence, persecution and human rights violations rose for the ninth year in 2020 despite the pandemic, according to the United Nations’ refugee agency. About 20.7 million people are considered refugees under the UNHCR’s mandate. On World Refugee Day, This Week in Asia looks at the plight of Rohingya communities seeking temporary refuge in Indonesia and India.
“When it starts to rain, all these tents will be washed away, and we’ll have no place to go,” the 31-year-old said with a look of dismay. “If they don’t allow us to rebuild our shelter, where will we go?”
His concerns are not unfounded. Last weekend, some 57 Rohingya refugee families, including Hilal’s, were left homeless after a fire ripped through their shanty town of bamboo and tin shelters – some of which had been standing since 2012 – in Madanpur Khadar, on the outskirts of the Indian capital.
No one was injured in the blaze, but the makeshift settlement, which included a mosque and school, was devastated. To make matters worse, officials from the Uttar Pradesh government put a stop to their attempts to rebuild.
“When the local NGOs came to help us to rebuild the shelters. the government officials present refused to allow us to reconstruct,” Hilal said. “They said we can’t resettle here. An official even told us that it is better if we leave this place altogether.”
Pravir Singh, a subdivisional magistrate for the area, said aid had been provided to the affected families, but insisted “the land belongs to [the Uttar Pradesh] irrigation department and can’t be used for building shanties”.
‘ILLEGAL INFILTRATORS’
