News Analysis India

Tag: Rohingya Muslims

  • MHA wanted to shift Rohingya to Bakkarwala EWS flats in capital 

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Even as the Union Home Ministry on Thursday denied giving any direction to provide EWS (economically weaker section) flats to Rohingya illegal migrants, moves to resettle at least 250 of them at Bakkarwala in West Delhi were in the works since at least March 2021.

    A series of correspondence between the Home Police-II department of the Government of National Capital Territory (GNCT) of Delhi and the NDMC Chairman indicate that attempts were made to move a section of Rohingya living at Shahzada Bagh and Lampur to “suitable accommodation for permanent restriction centre for foreign inmates at Bakkarwala village” since June 2021.

    ALSO READ | Sounds from Rohingya colony over flats row: From hope to fear in a matter of hours

    A copy of a letter is in the possession of TNIE. The letter reveals that the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), which is under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), itself had requested the GNCT Home Department and the NDMC to “allot the Baraat Ghar along with all EWS flats, Bakkarwala Village, Delhi, to them to accommodate the foreign inmates, along with basic minimum housing facilities”. This, sources said, referred to Rohingya migrants.

    ALSO READ | ‘Rohingya migrants are threat to national security’: BJP on ‘flats for refugees’ row

    The June 2021 letter was followed by at least two more meetings between the MHA, Delhi government officials and senior police officers in January and July 2022. In both meetings, the police officers pushed keeping the 250 Rohingya at one place for effective surveillance.

    The Delhi Home Department letter of June 23, 2021, reveals that plans were afoot to “restrict the movement of foreign inmates” at Shahzada Bagh and Lampur. On February 21 last year, a “joint inspection with representatives of (the) social welfare department” was made to “search for a suitable accommodation for (a) permanent restriction centre for foreign inmates at Bakkarwala village, Delhi.” The site had almost 240 flats built under EWS category and owned by the NDMC.

    NEW DELHI: Even as the Union Home Ministry on Thursday denied giving any direction to provide EWS (economically weaker section) flats to Rohingya illegal migrants, moves to resettle at least 250 of them at Bakkarwala in West Delhi were in the works since at least March 2021.

    A series of correspondence between the Home Police-II department of the Government of National Capital Territory (GNCT) of Delhi and the NDMC Chairman indicate that attempts were made to move a section of Rohingya living at Shahzada Bagh and Lampur to “suitable accommodation for permanent restriction centre for foreign inmates at Bakkarwala village” since June 2021.

    ALSO READ | Sounds from Rohingya colony over flats row: From hope to fear in a matter of hours

    A copy of a letter is in the possession of TNIE. The letter reveals that the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), which is under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), itself had requested the GNCT Home Department and the NDMC to “allot the Baraat Ghar along with all EWS flats, Bakkarwala Village, Delhi, to them to accommodate the foreign inmates, along with basic minimum housing facilities”. This, sources said, referred to Rohingya migrants.

    ALSO READ | ‘Rohingya migrants are threat to national security’: BJP on ‘flats for refugees’ row

    The June 2021 letter was followed by at least two more meetings between the MHA, Delhi government officials and senior police officers in January and July 2022. In both meetings, the police officers pushed keeping the 250 Rohingya at one place for effective surveillance.

    The Delhi Home Department letter of June 23, 2021, reveals that plans were afoot to “restrict the movement of foreign inmates” at Shahzada Bagh and Lampur. On February 21 last year, a “joint inspection with representatives of (the) social welfare department” was made to “search for a suitable accommodation for (a) permanent restriction centre for foreign inmates at Bakkarwala village, Delhi.” The site had almost 240 flats built under EWS category and owned by the NDMC.

  • NIA arrests six people for trafficking Rohingya Muslims into India

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The NIA has arrested six people who were allegedly part of a syndicate involved in the illegal trafficking of Rohingya Muslims into Indian territory, an official said on Saturday.

    The network was operating in the border areas of Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya as well as other parts of the country, the official of the premier investigation agency said.

    The six people were part of a syndicate involved in the illegal trafficking of Rohingya Muslims into the Indian territory, the official said, without divulging further details.

    Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims, described by the UN as the most persecuted minority in the world, fled their homes in 2017 to escape an alleged crackdown by the Myanmarese military.

    Human rights group Amnesty International has blamed Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and the country’s government for “burying their heads in the sand over the horrors unfolding in Rakhine State”.

    In October 2018, the Indian government deported seven Rohingya immigrants, who were staying in Assam illegally, to their country of origin Myanmar, in a first such move.

  • Names of Rohingyas figure in Bengal voter list, urged EC to intervene: Dilip Ghosh

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Thursday said he has urged the Election Commission (EC) to facilitate a scrutiny of the voters’ list in Bengal as names of Rohingya Muslims have been included in it.

    Ghosh told reporters that the EC has been requested to look into allegations of irregularities in the process of updating the list.

    The full bench of the Election Commission of India, led by Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) Sunil Arora, arrived in the state on Wednesday on a three-day visit to review poll preparedness.

    “I have urged the CEC to look into reports suggesting that names of Rohingyas have been included in the voters’ list in certain parts of state, including the border areas. I have called upon the EC to scrutinise the list to detect all such irregularities,” Ghosh said.

    The BJP leader had told reporters on Wednesday that three to four lakh names of infiltrators figure in the electoral list, including a large number of Rohingya Muslims.

    Ghosh further appealed to the CEC to deploy paramilitary forces in Bengal “possibly from now to instil confidence among people and avert intimidation.”

    “We want free, fair and peaceful polls in the state,” he said.