National League for Democracy in 1990, but subsequently faced a backlash from the military junta which persecuted us even more. After that, we were banned from entering the capital city. Aung San Suu Kyi hasn’t voiced our concerns even once yet, so we really don’t know whether these changes will affect our condition.
Dilli Gate
manit balmiki (4)
What are your demands? Every person in the world either needs citizenship or a refugee stat us. We have neither. The Myanmar government argues that they have not granted us citizenship because the British colonists had forcibly brought us from India as labour. A few of our elders had citizenship rights before 1978, but even that has been taken away. [According to a 1982 law, because Rohingyas lack the documentation to prove that they resided within Myanmar’s borders before 1948, they aren’t eligible for citizenship.] We had a final meeting with the UNHCR on May 15, when we were told that we would be given only long-term asylum, not refugee status. It was a big shock for us, but we have to live with it. No country for these men Zia-ur-Rehman (standing) with
fellow Rohingyas at Madanpur Khadar; (below) a tanker supplies water daily, but the supply is far less than adequate.
Home away from home About 220 people have been encamped on a plot of land belonging to the non-profit Zakat Foundation. Marked by a banner that says “Darul Hijrat”, the land houses a cluster of temporary shacks in three parallel rows.
Temporary relief Good Samaritans have helped the Rohingyas. Said
organiser Zia-ur-Rehman, “We’ve been getting help from people, who’ve read about us in the papers, in the form of monetary donations and food rations – like 50 boxes of Lactogen baby food for the children.”
Political purgatory Delhi has been home to several refugee communities – among them the Tibetans in Majnu Ka Tila, and Iraqis and Afghans in Lajpat Nagar. This April, a group of about 1,200 people camped for a month in front of the United Nations Human Rights Commission office in Vasant Vihar to demand the same status. They were Rohingyas, a stateless Muslim minority from the Arakan area of western Myanmar. Officially known as Rakhine State, their province is a narrow strip of land adjoining the Bay of Bengal and Bangladesh. According to Amnesty International, thou sands of Rohingyas have fled to neighbouring countries, mainly Bangladesh, to escape persecution and discrimination. While the Indian government has granted the Rohingyas asy lum, the community wanted the UNHRC to give them refugee status, which would open up access to education, health and employment. Following a complaint from Vasant Vihar residents, the Delhi police evicted the petitioners, dropping them off at Kashmere
Gate, Old Delhi Railway Station, Badarpur and the outskirts of the city. Some of the families made their way back, and have been temporarily rehabilitated in Madanpur Khadar. Zia-ur-Rehman, 47, a Rohingya representative, spoke to Sonam Joshi in Urduinflected Hindustani about how he and his community came to be in Delhi. Tell us about your life in Myanmar and why you left the country. I was involved in a fish farming business in Arakan. We were for ced to migrate last year, because there were so many restrictions on us. When I was young, my uncle was taken away by authorities and suddenly disappeared. There is a separate department in Arakan that only deals with Rohingyas. Every year, they take our photographs and document us, for which we have to pay them money. We are not allowed to enter the state capital Akyab. We are not given access to higher education, so we can’t even articulate our problems adequately. We are tortured and forced to work.
10 www.timeoutdelhi.net June 8 – 21 2012
Most significantly, we are denied citizenship. How has life been after coming to India? In 2011, I crossed over from the Myanmar-Bangladesh border with my wife and 16 other people. The route is very tough, so my par ents are still in Arakan. Initially, I came to Jammu via Kolkata, and stayed there for around three months, working as a medical ass istant. Subsequently, I worked for
a few months in an agricultural farm in Rajasthan before moving to Muzaffarnagar. Most of the Rohingyas who came to Delhi have been staying in Jammu, Hyderabad and Muzaffarnagar. Life has been difficult for us, so we decided to come here and demand refugee status. Do the recent political changes in Myanmar offer you some hope? The Rohingyas supported the
June 8 – 21 2012 www.timeoutdelhi.net 11
National League for Democracy in 1990, but subsequently faced a backlash from the military junta which persecuted us even more. After that, we were banned from entering the capital city. Aung San Suu Kyi hasn’t voiced our concerns even once yet, so we really don’t know whether these changes will affect our condition.
Dilli Gate
manit balmiki (4)
What are your demands? Every person in the world either needs citizenship or a refugee stat us. We have neither. The Myanmar government argues that they have not granted us citizenship because the British colonists had forcibly brought us from India as labour. A few of our elders had citizenship rights before 1978, but even that has been taken away. [According to a 1982 law, because Rohingyas lack the documentation to prove that they resided within Myanmar’s borders before 1948, they aren’t eligible for citizenship.] We had a final meeting with the UNHCR on May 15, when we were told that we would be given only long-term asylum, not refugee status. It was a big shock for us, but we have to live with it. No country for these men Zia-ur-Rehman (standing) with
fellow Rohingyas at Madanpur Khadar; (below) a tanker supplies water daily, but the supply is far less than adequate.
Home away from home About 220 people have been encamped on a plot of land belonging to the non-profit Zakat Foundation. Marked by a banner that says “Darul Hijrat”, the land houses a cluster of temporary shacks in three parallel rows.
Temporary relief Good Samaritans have helped the Rohingyas. Said
organiser Zia-ur-Rehman, “We’ve been getting help from people, who’ve read about us in the papers, in the form of monetary donations and food rations – like 50 boxes of Lactogen baby food for the children.”
Political purgatory Delhi has been home to several refugee communities – among them the Tibetans in Majnu Ka Tila, and Iraqis and Afghans in Lajpat Nagar. This April, a group of about 1,200 people camped for a month in front of the United Nations Human Rights Commission office in Vasant Vihar to demand the same status. They were Rohingyas, a stateless Muslim minority from the Arakan area of western Myanmar. Officially known as Rakhine State, their province is a narrow strip of land adjoining the Bay of Bengal and Bangladesh. According to Amnesty International, thou sands of Rohingyas have fled to neighbouring countries, mainly Bangladesh, to escape persecution and discrimination. While the Indian government has granted the Rohingyas asy lum, the community wanted the UNHRC to give them refugee status, which would open up access to education, health and employment. Following a complaint from Vasant Vihar residents, the Delhi police evicted the petitioners, dropping them off at Kashmere
Gate, Old Delhi Railway Station, Badarpur and the outskirts of the city. Some of the families made their way back, and have been temporarily rehabilitated in Madanpur Khadar. Zia-ur-Rehman, 47, a Rohingya representative, spoke to Sonam Joshi in Urduinflected Hindustani about how he and his community came to be in Delhi. Tell us about your life in Myanmar and why you left the country. I was involved in a fish farming business in Arakan. We were for ced to migrate last year, because there were so many restrictions on us. When I was young, my uncle was taken away by authorities and suddenly disappeared. There is a separate department in Arakan that only deals with Rohingyas. Every year, they take our photographs and document us, for which we have to pay them money. We are not allowed to enter the state capital Akyab. We are not given access to higher education, so we can’t even articulate our problems adequately. We are tortured and forced to work.
10 www.timeoutdelhi.net June 8 – 21 2012
Most significantly, we are denied citizenship. How has life been after coming to India? In 2011, I crossed over from the Myanmar-Bangladesh border with my wife and 16 other people. The route is very tough, so my par ents are still in Arakan. Initially, I came to Jammu via Kolkata, and stayed there for around three months, working as a medical ass istant. Subsequently, I worked for
a few months in an agricultural farm in Rajasthan before moving to Muzaffarnagar. Most of the Rohingyas who came to Delhi have been staying in Jammu, Hyderabad and Muzaffarnagar. Life has been difficult for us, so we decided to come here and demand refugee status. Do the recent political changes in Myanmar offer you some hope? The Rohingyas supported the
June 8 – 21 2012 www.timeoutdelhi.net 11