From ISIS connections to poverty, Hyderabad police sees red in city's Rohingya population
- It is said that around 300 to 400 Rohingyas who migrated from Myanmar have no refugee cards and are considered illegal.
- The police searched 22 Rohingya families, living in the Asadbabanagar area and arrested 6 of them. Incidentally, all were having a valid UNHCR refugee cards.
- However, difference between illegal immigrants and refugees need to be considered, believe experts.
FollowRohingya Muslims who have not been registered or have not renewed their refugee cards with the UNHCR are considered to be a threat for the security of the city and the nation, note Hyderabad Police. According to latest reports, there are over 3,800 registered refugees in the three police commissionarates of Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda. However, it is said that around 300 to 400 Rohingyas who migrated from Myanmar have no refugee cards and are considered illegal.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, DCP V Satyanarayana said that an alert has been received from the Centre about illegal migrants from Myanmar. He said, "Even those having refugee cards are not supposed to have voter ID card or ration card and should not avail benefits meant for Indian citizens. However, our investigations found that many of them have got voter ID and ration cards. We have booked four cases recently for obtaining these cards."
It is also said that the counter intelligence wing is monitoring three Rohingyas for links with ISIS suspects in the city. Satyanarayana further added, "Two or the three are under our scanner for activities linked to terror. Unauthorised Rohingyas pose a serious security threat.” He further reported that the Rohingyas prefer to reside in Kolkata and Hyderabad and there are almost 10,000 of them scattered in both the cities. The most densely populated Rohingyas in Hyderabad reside in Balapur, Pahadishareef, Hafeezbabanagar, Kihanbagh and Bahadurpura.
In an August 5 raid, the police searched 22 Rohingya families, living in the Asadbabanagar area and arrested 6 of them. Incidentally, all were having a valid UNHCR refugee cards. They were all released on station bail.
However, experts believe that there is a thin line of difference between refugees and illegal migrants and that one cannot pay the price of being confused with the other. Refugees are registered while illegals do not have any documents to prove their existence in the country. Yet the latter get everything from ration cards to PAN cards. Director of refugee felicitation center COVA- Mazhar Hussain- said, "Without local help these refugees can’t get voter ID cards and ration cards. There are instances where they have got passports too. We are asking the police to take action against such people and also against agents and officials who aid them." He, however, also points out, "The government and its agencies should differentiate between refugees and illegals. There are international conventions regarding refugees.”
Experts also believe that refugees are forced to adopt unfair means because of the restrictions that the government has posed on them. For instance, they are not entitled for SIM cards or opening bank accounts. Hussain explains,"No one can live without a SIM card these days, so to obtain the SIM card they are trying to get voter ID cards."
Most of the refugees are daily workers who earn Rs 400 to Rs 500 daily. Some of them receive funds from their relatives. But since they are not allowed to open bank accounts, they receive the money through Hawala. Hussain said, "The government should allow them to have SIM cards and open bank accounts with the refugee cards so that these illegal activities can be curbed."
He further clarified that refugee cards are given after thorough verification and the police is free to take any action against anyone staying illegally and that it would be gross injustice to send back those who are holding refugee cards as they face serious threat to their lives in their own country. These illegal refugees also pose an economic threat to the country. Latest statistics on India's GDP versus its intake of Rohingya immigrants clearly show the financial crisis that the country goes through because of them.
India has Rohingya refugee intake of 40,000 whereas, its GDP per capita income is a meagre 1,723 USD. On the contrary, countries with high GDP have lower or nil intake of Rohingya refugees. Compare this with the GDP and the Rohingya intake proportion in Qatar, USA, Netherlands, UK, Japan and France, who have a GDP growth of 60,787 USD with zero intake of Rohingyas, 57,436 USD with 5000 Rohingya intake, 45,283 USD with 35 Rohingya intake, 40,096 USD with 0 Rohingya intake, 38,917 USD with 250 Rohingya intake and 38,128 USD with 0 Rohingya intake respectively.
