New Delhi: After fleeing the violence wrecked Rakhine province of Myanmar, the Rohingya Muslims now taste the real freedom in India where there is no danger to their lives.
But, still they live with fear of deportation by the Government of India, as the Indian Government is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and is therefore not bound by the principle of “non-refoulment”.
Non-refoulment, a principle in international law, stops a country from returning refugees to a place where they could be at risk of persecution.
A 24-year old Rohingya Muslim, Mohammed Tahir, had left Myanmar in 2012 and he considers himself lucky to live in Delhi’s backyard. He stays in a special camp at Siddiq Nagar in Haryana’s Nuh town, along with his wife and daughter. The camp is located 100 km away from Delhi.
When contacted by the news reporter, he said that “We would not even dream of going back to Myanmar. We are not treated as human in a state ruled by Buddhist people. We did not know what freedom is since childhood. We have experienced it only after reaching the soil of India.”
The Government data says that, there are 1,360 Rohingya Muslims, or 400 families, living in Mewat, The Siddiq Nagar area has two camps: the second one called Nangli 2 or Siddiq Nagar 2 where 100 families live in hutments. Moreover, 55 families live in Ferozepur Namak, 60 in Chandni village and 23 families in Punhana area.
The Government of India plans to deport Rohingya Muslims citing their radicalization by the terrorist organizations, and burden on limited local resources causing demographic pressure.