Panic has spread among most of the people who came to India from Myanmar. They are worried about who will be deported next and who will return and face violence and bloodshed.
Mohammad Hamim cannot sleep at night since March 8. On that day, the government of the northeastern Indian state of Manipur announced the expulsion of the Rohingyas.
Chief Minister Biren Singh, leader of Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said on social media X that they are going to deport eight people from a group of 77 Rohingyas who entered India illegally. It was later suspended by the Myanmar government. They refuse to work with India.
Hamim entered India in 2018. Currently, he is staying in Delhi, 150 km away from Manipur. Hamim, 26, is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business administration in the Indian capital. Now television and social media is his deep vision. He is worried if anyone from his community has been evicted by the government.
Hamim said that the news of deportation has spread panic among most of the people who came to India from Myanmar. They are worried about who will be deported next and who will return and face violence and bloodshed.
India’s amended Citizenship Act or CAA mentions persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. If they stay in India before 2015, they will be given citizenship. But it does not mention the Rohingyas. The Rohingya, the majority of whom are Muslim, are the most persecuted group in India.
A Rohingya human rights activist said on condition of anonymity, “Like the three countries mentioned, we are also victims of religious persecution. We are also a minority in Buddhist majority Myanmar. But Indian government is not worried about this. Because we are Muslims.
India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. The rights of refugees are mentioned in that policy. Besides, the responsibility of the state towards them has also been said. There is no law in this South Asian country to protect refugees.
3.7 billion dollars for construction of fence
The Indian government plans to spend about USD 3.7 billion to build a fence along the 1,610 km long border with Myanmar. It will take a decade to complete this work.
Earlier this year, Delhi withdrew from its decades-old visa-free travel policy with Myanmar and announced the construction of a fence along the border with the conflicted neighbor.
Explaining the reason for this, the Indian government has said that it has taken this decision in the interest of national security and safety of its citizens living in the border areas and to maintain the geological infrastructure of the northeastern region. Earlier this month, a committee of the Indian government approved the cost of building the border fence.
