News Nation Logo

Rohingyas in Delhi's Kalindi Kunj camp refuse to return to homeland 'until peace is restored'

News Nation Bureau | Edited By : Srishty Choudhury | Updated on: 07 Oct 2018, 01:40:05 PM
Rohingyas in Delhi's Kalindi Kunj camp refuse to return to homeland 'until peace is restored'

New Delhi:

After the Central government deported seven Rohingya refugees to Myanmar from Assam on Friday, the Rohingyas staying at Delhi’s Kalindi Kunj camp on Saturday said that they don’t want to return to Myanmar fearing for their lives and that they will not rehabilitate until ‘peace is restored in their homeland’.

Mohammad Farooq, a refugee as quoted by news agency ANI said, “I have been living here since 2012. I only request the government to let us live here. We have faced a lot of hardships in our country. We did not leave our country out of greed, no one really wants to leave their own nation.” He also feared that the refugees who have been deported will all soon be killed.

Farooq also said, “Our records are there with the authorities and the UN. Police brought us a form to fill but it was in Burmese language and we refused to fill it. The seven people who have been deported won’t be alive for long. They will be killed.”

Read More | Victory for Trump as Brett Kavanaugh sworn in as US Supreme Court Justice

On Thursday, the Supreme Court allowed the deportation of seven Rohingyas to Myanmar, who had illegally migrated to Assam in 2012. The apex court said that the seven Rohingyas were found to be illegal immigrants and Myanmar had accepted them as its citizens.

“Having considered the prayer, we would not like to interfere with the decision taken. The petition is dismissed,” a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph said.

The bench rejected the plea made by one of the Rohingya immigrants Mohammad Salimullah and Mohammad Shaqir, who had filed an application seeking to restrain the Centre from deporting to Myanmar the seven Rohingyas lodged in a detention centre at Silchar in Assam. They had challenged the Centre’s decision to deport over 40,000 refugees who came to India after escaping from Myanmar due to widespread discrimination and violence against the community.

Also Read | Google CEO Sundar Pichai secretly met Pentagon leaders over AI project: Report

As many as 650,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Rakhine in August 2017 after Myanmar’s army launched a massive crackdown in its northern state, retaliating the attacks by insurgents, Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on the country’s police posts and a military base.

A large number of Rohingya refugees, since then, have taken shelter in India and Bangladesh, and are staying in refugee camps, often raising security concerns.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.

First Published : 07 Oct 2018, 09:12:02 AM

Videos