Rohingya migrants in B’luru yearn for water, sanitation

Ahna Prakash | NT
Bengaluru

Just five kilometres from Hebbal hospital, a green fencing net separates a block of land from the bustling heart of the IT hub in Bengaluru. Around 6.30 am, Rohingya refugee Mustafiz Rehman limps out of his room, a tarpaulin tent raised by bamboo sticks. He struggles to stand straight.

In 2012, Myanmar soldiers shot him in the right leg and stabbed him below his ears. He found himself lying in a heap of dead Myanmar refugees, but his family members found him and carried him on a chair toward the Bangladesh border. After staying in the jungle for a few nights, he and his relatives sneaked into Bangladesh.

In 2014, Mustafiz came to Bangalore with a group of other refugees. “We decided to come to India because our fathers told us the county is great and we hoped to find a better life here,” Mustafiz said on Sunday.

Rohingyas are among the most persecuted minorities in the world. They have been fleeing Myanmar for years to escape the genocide. In the last two decades, more than 40,000 Rohingya refugees landed in India.

Like Mustafiz, the refugees came to Bengaluru hoping for a fresh start, better living conditions and a quest for jobs. According to an affidavit filed by the Karnataka government in the Supreme Court in 2021, 72 Rohingya refugees live in Bengaluru. But the city has three refugee camps, and the largest one is in Dasarahalli.

According to its inmates, 63 families live in the camp. The other two camps are located within a five-kilometre radius of Dasarahalli. The refugees live in land owned by private contractors, paying a monthly rent of Rs 3,000.

Deplorable conditions

But they live in deplorable conditions. There is no proper water supply or sanitation facilities. A pebbled road that runs through the camp is littered with plastic bottles and trash. The heap of garbage and scrap block the view of the tents. The families are primarily rag pickers, and each family earns an average monthly income of Rs 2,000.

“We have requested the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and non-governmental agencies to provide us hygienic sanitation facilities, but nothing has happened so far,” said Karimmulla, another refugee. In the absence of toilets, women are forced to use nearby plots to attend to nature’s call, often drawing stares from the passer-by. More worrying is the increase in the crimes against the refugees.

Many women were molested and raped while men were murdered. But police were reluctant to take action against the perpetrators. What makes the issue worse is that India does not have any laws to safeguard the rights of the refugees.

“In 2017, people raped my 17-year-old daugher. The case is still pending in the court. Before that, my son was also killed by a local gang. Initially, the police did not register a FIR. Later, with the help of NGOs, I filed an FIR,” said Mohammed Farz.

In the absence of financial support from the Indian government, Rohingya refugees completely rely on UN bodies and NGOs for survival. According to Special Officer Secretary General India of the UNHRC Dr Vijayakumar, the UN allocates funds for refugees in India.