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New Delhi: Amid an intensified crackdown on the Rohingya and Bangladeshis in Jammu and Kashmir, a two-member team from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) visited a Rohingya settlement in Jammu on Wednesday, December 11, to assess the situation.
The team, comprising senior protection officer Tomoko Fukumura and protection associate Ragini Trakroo Zutushi, met members of the Rohingya community residing in the Kiryani Talab area of Narwal, a slum housing makeshift shanties. Rohingya residents alleged that police had detained several community members over the past month as part of the crackdown, according to a report in the Hindu.
The UN team’s visit comes in the wake of renewed actions against “illegal” immigrants in Jammu since November. Authorities have also faced criticism for reportedly cutting off water and electricity supplies to settlements of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants, following an order by a magistrate under police directions.
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Rohingya residents said that their water and power supplies had been cut off despite the fact that they were registered with the UNHCR. UNHCR identity cards, which typically offer protection against deportation in other nations, are meant to provide access to basic services.
In response to the allegations, Jammu and Kashmir’s Jal Shakti minister Javed Ahmed Rana announced on Thursday, December 12, that water supplies to the immigrant settlements would not be disconnected, according to a Times of India report. This decision drew criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which accused the National Conference (NC) government of conspiring to settle “illegal immigrants” in the region.
An agency report noted that 409 families had been named in the initial order.
‘Can’t be treated like animals’
However, the NC government, led by chief minister Omar Abdullah and party president Farooq Abdullah, has voiced opposition to such measures. Both leaders called for a humanitarian approach to dealing with the community until the central government finalises its policy on the matter.
“They (the Rohingya) cannot be treated like animals and left to die in the winters,” Omar Abdullah told mediapersons on the sideline of a function. “If they have to be deported, then deport them. If you can send them back, then send them and if you cannot, then you cannot make them starve and die here.”
The NC government has since issued instructions to ensure that essential supplies, such as electricity and water, are not cut off to these families.
‘Duty to protect’
Farooq Abdullah echoed these sentiments, stating, “The union government 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.”
The BJP, meanwhile, demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe to identify individuals involved in bringing and housing these immigrants in Jammu. The saffron party accused the NC of granting water and power connections to the Rohingya for political reasons and because they belong to a “particular community.”
Officials reported that 18 First Information Reports have been registered against landlords sheltering the Rohingya in Jammu, according to the Hindu report. Over 400 Rohingya people have been identified in the city, with several already detained as part of the crackdown.
