JAMMU: Amid political wrangling in J&K over electricity and water supply to the illegal settlements of Rohingyas, a two-member team of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) visited one of their camps on the outskirts of Jammu on Monday.
Senior protection officer Tomoko Fukumura and protection associate Ragini Trakroo Zutushi met the Rohingya Muslims and some local residents in the Kiryani Talab area of Narwal, an official said on Wednesday.
A heated debate started after Rohingyas living on three plots of land in the Narwal area of Jammu recently claimed their power and water supply had been snapped despite the immigrants being registered with UNHCR.
J&K jal shakti minister Javed Ahmed Rana subsequently announced on Dec 7 that the water supply to the slums housing the immigrants would not be snapped.
This prompted BJP to allege a “political conspiracy” behind settling illegal Rohingya and Bangladeshi immigrants in Jammu. The party demanded a CBI probe to identify those involved in bringing and lodging them in the city.
Lashing out at the National Conference govt for granting water and power connections to the slums housing the illegal settlers, the party alleged this was being done as they belonged to a “particular community”.
Responding to the allegations, CM Omar on Tuesday told reporters: “It is a humanitarian issue. The central government should decide about them (Rohingyas). If they are to be sent back, do that… If you cannot send them back, we cannot starve them to death. They cannot be allowed to die of cold…The Govt of India (GoI) should tell us what we have to do with them. As long as they are here, we need to take care of them.”
Omar said it was not his govt or party that had settled Rohingyas in the Jammu slums. “If there is a change in policy at the Centre, take them back. As long as they are here, we cannot treat them like animals. They are humans and they should be treated as such,” he further said.
NC president Farooq Abdullah, too, waded in, saying, “The Union govt brought the refugees here. We did not bring them. They have settled them here, and as long as they are here, it is our duty to provide them with water and electricity.”
According to govt data, more than 13,700 foreigners, most of them Rohingyas and Bangladeshi nationals, are settled in Jammu and other districts of J&K, where their population increased by over 6,000 between 2008 and 2016.
Since India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, Rohingyas are not granted refugee status in the country and are identified as illegal immigrants. In India, UNHRC identity cards, intended to protect registered refugees from arbitrary arrests and deportations in many countries, only serve to provide access to basic services.
In March 2021, police found more than 270 Rohingyas, including women and children, living illegally in Jammu city during a verification drive, and lodged them at a holding centre inside the Kathua sub-jail.
The presence of Rohingyas near security establishments has also raised concerns, especially since a terrorist was killed by security forces in south Kashmir’s Tral on Oct 4, 2015. Abdur Rehman al Arkani, initially identified by the pseudonym Chota Burmi, was found to be from Rakhine, the Myanmar province where Rohingyas come from.