Centre says no EWS flats for Rohingya Muslims in Delhi: 9 updates on the 'illegal foreigners' crisis in India

The Union Home Ministry on Wednesday denied any move to shift Rohingya Muslims in Delhi to economically weaker section (EWS) flats and directed the Delhi government to ensure the "illegal foreigners" remain in detention centres pending their extradition.

The ministry's clarification came hours after Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri put out a tweet saying India has always welcomed those who have sought refuge in the country and announcing that all Rohingya refugees would be shifted to EWS flats in east Delhi's Bakkarwala area.

Puri, however, had later clarified on his tweet. The union housing and urban affairs minister tweeted the MHA release underlining the “correct position”.  

The Aam Aadmi Party government hit out at the Centre over Puri's announcement that Rohingya refugees will be shifted to apartments in the city, calling the move "a big threat" to the national security and Delhiites, and said that it will not allow it to happen at any cost. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party said said the prime minister may consider settling them down in any of the BJP-ruled states if he wants.

Here are the top updates on the Rohingya crisis in India:

According to a Home Ministry estimate, around 40,000 Rohingya migrants live in different parts of the country, including Delhi. Last year, the government informed the Rajya Sabha that "illegal Rohingya immigrants" are staying in 12 states and union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir, Telangana, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Karnataka and Kerala.

Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the government had got reports that Rohingya Musilms have indulged in illegal activities in the country. He said all foreign nationals who enter into the country without valid travel documents are treated as illegal migrants.
The minister said detection and deportation of illegal migrants, including Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, after due process of nationality verification is a continuous process.

Rohingya have been facing violence, discrimination and persecution in Myanmar for decades. More than 7,00,000 of them - half of them children - sought refuge in Bangladesh after a massive wave of violence broke out in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. 

There are over 980,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from Myanmar in neighbouring countries, including Bangladesh and India. Approximately 919,000 Rohingya refugees are living at the Kutupalong and Nayapara refugee camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar region — the largest and most densely populated camps in the world.

The Myanmar government, under its 1982 citizenship law, recognised only about 40,000 Rohingyas as its citizens. The rest were declared “illegal Bengalis” -- immigrants from Bangladesh. 

As of early this year, around 1,100 Rohingya lived in Delhi and another 17,000 elsewhere in India, working mainly as manual labourers, hawkers and rickshaw pullers, according to estimates from Rohingya rights activist Ali Johar, reported Reuters.

The Indian government has been trying to send back Rohingya. Last year, the Supreme Court rejected a plea to stop the government from deporting to Myanmar some 150 Rohingya Muslims police detained.

Many of the Rohingya in India carry identity cards issued by the UNHCR recognising them as refugees, but the country is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention.

India also rejects a UN position that deporting the Rohingya violates the principle of refoulement – forcible return of refugees to a country where they face danger.