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{"id":15501,"date":"2016-06-15T22:58:30","date_gmt":"2016-06-15T21:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thestateless.com\/?p=15501"},"modified":"2016-06-15T22:58:30","modified_gmt":"2016-06-15T21:58:30","slug":"rohingyas-in-delhi-had-i-not-escaped-i-would-have-been-killed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rohingyapost.com\/rohingyas-in-delhi-had-i-not-escaped-i-would-have-been-killed\/","title":{"rendered":"Rohingya&#8217;s in Delhi: &#8220;Had I Not Escaped I Would Have Been Killed&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">By <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecitizen.in\/index.php\/OldNewsPage\/?Id=7976&amp;Rohingya%27s\/in\/Delhi:\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Devika Sahni, Meredydd Rix, Mithil Ray, The Citizen<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><i><strong>NEW DELHI:<\/strong> In a rubbish dump on the outskirts of Delhi a crack of lightning illuminates an ominous sky. Rains begin to lash down and people run for cover. Squeezed between piles of sorted trash, makeshift huts of tarpaulin and bamboo begin to shake in the wind. A group of men quickly repair a roof in a hopeless attempt to keep the rain out.<\/p>\n<p>These hovels are more than just homes. They are their residents\u2019 sole possessions, fragile markers of their otherwise evidenceless existence. They offer an imperfect asylum not just from the weather, but from the murder, violence and persecution of their homeland.<\/p>\n<p>The Rohingya of west Myanmar are some of the most persecuted people on the planet. Decades of discrimination and state-sponsored oppression have rendered them stateless and right-less.<\/p>\n<p>In previous years, reports of Rohingya refugees drowning as they fled to South East Asia, shocked the world. But what rarely reached the media were the stories of Rohingyas fleeing west, and the lives they made for themselves outside Myanmar. This is the untold story of Delhi\u2019s Rohingya refugees and their daily fight for a better life.<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-15505 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thestateless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Rohingya-in-Delhi.jpg\" alt=\"Rohingya in Delhi\" width=\"1079\" height=\"610\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Like many of the refugees here in Delhi\u2019s Kanchan Kunj, Sohain fled Myanmar in 2012 following a programme of mass violence and land grabbing. \u201cIn Myanmar I had a good life, I owned a number of shops and some land\u201d he explained. \u201cOne day the government took them. I was not allowed on my land anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When he objected, he was kidnapped by a Buddhist political group. \u201cThey took me and tied my hands and legs. Then they beat me. I was lucky not to die. When they let me go, they told me to pay \u20b9300,000 or they would kill me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At this point Sohain decided to flee Myanmar. With the help of a Buddhist friend, he was able to get to Bangladesh with his family, and then, to India. \u201cHad I not escaped I would have been killed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zakir fled Myanmar in 2008 after his father was murdered in front of him. \u201cIn Myanmar I had my own house, and lots of land,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was all stolen by the government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRamadan used to be a joyous time. We would take the whole month off work and celebrate. Now I am fasting but I have no happy feeling for it. There is no celebration here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Many of the refugees had hoped to build new lives for themselves in Delhi, but with no government or UNHCR support they feel abandoned. \u201cThe government gives us a one-year extendable visa but the process is very difficult and expensive\u201d said Sohain. \u201cThey are giving us no support. Even the UNHCR just registers us and that is all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-15504\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thestateless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Rohingya-in-Delhi-2.jpg\" alt=\"Rohingya in Delhi 2\" width=\"413\" height=\"490\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Because India is not party to the 1951 Convention on Refugees, the UNHCR\u2019s mandate here is pitifully limited. Sohain showed us his small UNHCR registration card which,as a stateless person, is his only proof of existence. A token gift from an organisation that otherwise does almost nothing for the Rohingya.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have no regular work. How am I supposed to support my family?\u201d Asked Zakir, father of three. \u201cSometimes I work as a labourer, other times as a rag picker. When I can find work, I get paid \u20b9100-150 a day. My life has totally changed, before I could afford to live, now I struggle to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe police also cause problems for us. Every day they are coming and threatening us\u201d Sohain said. \u201cI don\u2019t know why they torment us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Zakat Foundation is the only thing that provides a ray of hope for the Rohingyas here. \u201cThey own this land and pay for our children to go to private school,\u201d Sohain explained. \u201c70 children are currently enrolled. The best children are given scholarships to a better school. This year 10 were given scholarships.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But life in Kanchan Kunj remains dire. \u201cYou can see we have only bamboo and plastic sheeting to shelter us,\u201d explained Sohain. Just minutes after the rain had begun, three inches of water had already covered the narrow pathways between the houses and was threatening to fill their homes. \u201cWhen it rains our houses flood, when it is not raining, the heat inside is unbearable. Conditions here are too bad. We have no electricity or running water.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sohain draws back a curtain that acts as a door for one of the huts. It\u2019s a tiny one-room house with earth floors, no windows and no light. The ceiling is so low the people inside cannot stand. \u201cEight people live in here,\u201d Sohain explains. \u201cWe are living like this for three or four years now. We are 210 people in total.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-15503 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thestateless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Rohingya-in-Delhi-3.jpg\" alt=\"Rohingya in Delhi 3\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe conditions here are very bad, but at least I am free,\u201d says Sohain. \u201cIn Myanmar I was always worried about my family and I could not travel anywhere without taking permission from the government. I might not have much here, but at least I have my freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Others though, are less optimistic. \u201cWhy would I not want to return?\u201d Sadaq asks. \u201cHalf of my family is living there, my mother and sister are there, I have my heart there. Why would I not want to go back? But if I return I will be killed right away. I am powerless.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zakir also wants to return. \u201cMy family is living there in miserable conditions. My heart is with them and I long to see them again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a stateless people, atomised and unrepresented, ignored by governments and neglected by aid agencies, the Rohingya face an uncertain future. In Myanmar the programme of ethnic cleansing shows no sign of stopping, despite the election of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.<\/p>\n<p>In India there is also little sign of improvement. The Rohingya live unseen by the media, the government and the world. Draconian citizenship laws make it impossible for them to become citizens, even those born here are ineligible. The government pretends to not see the Rohingya. It is almost as if these desperate but determined people mean as much to them as the rubbish among which they live.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-15502 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thestateless.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Rohingya-in-Delhi-4.png\" alt=\"Rohingya in Delhi 4\" width=\"602\" height=\"401\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Let us hope that the inspirational courage and unrelenting determination of this remarkable community defies the odds. As we leave, Sohain\u2019s parting comment is one of hope. \u201cIn India we have our freedom and our security. There is a future here for us.\u201d Behind him, rising from the rubbish, a newly built mosque is a symbol of hope and development in this otherwise fragile, transient settlement.<\/p>\n<p>(NB: Names have been changed to maintain the anonymity of our sources. There are other more established Rohingya communities elsewhere in Delhi.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Devika Sahni, Meredydd Rix, Mithil Ray, The Citizen NEW DELHI: In a rubbish dump on the outskirts of Delhi a crack of lightning illuminates an ominous sky. Rains begin to lash down and people run for cover. Squeezed between piles of sorted trash, makeshift huts of tarpaulin and bamboo begin to shake in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oct_exclude_from_cache":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[241,203],"tags":[324,225,247,263,220,227,245,313,239,215],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rohingyapost.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15501"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rohingyapost.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rohingyapost.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rohingyapost.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rohingyapost.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rohingyapost.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15501\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rohingyapost.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rohingyapost.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rohingyapost.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}