Indian govt backtracks on support for Rohingya

NEW DELHI • India's Home Ministry said yesterday that Rohingya refugees in the capital New Delhi would be held at a detention centre and then deported, contradicting a federal minister's earlier statement promising flats and security to members of the Muslim minority.

Mr Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, had earlier yesterday outlined new provisions for the Rohingya, signalling a potential change in the government's critical stance towards the refugee group from Myanmar.

Rohingya refugees would be allotted flats in western Delhi's Bakkarwala area and provided with basic amenities and round-the-clock police protection, Mr Puri had said on Twitter.

But, just hours after his tweets, the Home Ministry said in a statement that "Rohingya illegal foreigners" would remain at a locality in the city's southern reaches as the authorities worked to deport them.

"Illegal foreigners are to be kept in the detention centre till their deportation as per law," the ministry said in a statement.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has previously tried to repatriate members of the Rohingya, who are a minority community in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

Over the years, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled persecution and waves of violence in their homeland, mainly to Bangladesh.

As at early this year, there were about 1,100 Rohingya living in Delhi and another 17,000 elsewhere in India, working mainly as manual labourers, hawkers and rickshaw pullers, according to estimates from Rohingya rights activist Ali Johar.

He said that about 2,000 Rohingya had left for Bangladesh this year, amid fears of being deported from India.

"Most of the Rohingya in Delhi now live in rented accommodation, where they feel safe, or in settlements," said Mr Johar, 27, who moved to India a decade ago and lives with his family.

Speaking to Reuters before the Home Ministry's statement, Mr Johar underlined fears among the community, which has faced the ire of some Indian right-wing Hindu groups, that the new facilities earlier mentioned by the minister could be used to corral the Rohingya.

"If it turns out to be a detention camp, that will be a nightmare for us," he said.

REUTERS