A 75-year-old Rohingya woman, Lalu Bibi, passed away on Wednesday, 11 September, at a ‘holding centre’ in Hira Nagar, Jammu, where she had been detained since March 2021.
Her death marks the seventh fatality among detainees at the facility and has drawn criticism due to the poor living conditions and inadequate medical care at the holding centre.
It is pertinent to mention here that the administration of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state denotified Hira Nagar sub-jail as a prison before declaring it as a holding centre for lodging Rohingya refugees there.
The cause of Bibi’s death has not yet been determined as her body remains with authorities at the Government Medical College Jammu in Bakshi Nagar. Her children who reside in a nearby refugee camp are waiting for pending procedural clearance, reported Maktoob Media.
In July 2023 a five-month-old girl also died in the facility where police fired tear gas at Rohingiyas protesting indefinite detention demanding either deportation to their homeland Myanmar or release.
Director of Rohingya Human Rights Initiative Sabber Kyaw Min has highlighted the dire conditions within the holding centre, with reports suggesting that many detainees are living in stressful conditions and suffer from health issues exacerbated by lack of adequate medical attention.
The Rohingyas have been described as “one of the world’s most persecuted minorities” by the United Nations. They were forced to flee Mynamer due to ethnic cleansing committed by the government and Buddhist nationalists.
Experts estimated that 30 to 40 thousand Rohingyas have arrived in India to seek asylum. In an interview, UNHCR India highlighted that out of all refugees, 18,000 Rohingyas have been registered with the organization.
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