OT, May 20, 2012 12:56 IST
Okhla Times Reporter/Okhla
Forcibly evicted from Delhi a few days ago, some asylum seekers from
Burma (mostly Muslims), who are demanding refugee status in India, have
found their way back to the national capital. Of the 4,000 Myanmar
refugees who had landed in Delhi in hope of a shelter, some 250 are
being given shelter by Okhla-based Zakat Foundation of India, a
non-government organization.
Vice president of ZFI S. M. Shakil told OKHLA TIMES that the NGO is providing shelter to some 250 people on humanitarian ground at its Madanpur Khadar premise. “They have been living there for the last six days.”
The refugee issue had grabbed headlines in New Delhi after they protested before the UNHRC office on April 7 for being allowed to stay in the country. The issue was also raised in Parliament and the Rajya Sabha.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Balbir Punj (BJP) had urged the members to find out how come a large number of 4,000 Myanmar refugees turned up in Delhi. Also, he asked the government what it was doing to evict it. Replying to the queries, Home Minister P Chidambaram said without any religious discrimination the refugees would be send back in a fair manner as per laid guidelines.
However, when the refugees were evicted forcibly at night time, the report spread like wildfire with SMS being circulated in Okhla area about their plight.
An asylum seeker Zia-Ur-Rahman, who anyhow managed to make it to Delhi after being evicted to get his seven-month-old son to a hospital for acute stomach infection, said he feels more secure in Delhi. Some are back in search of their family members who have gone missing following the late night eviction, reports Hindu.
Zia told the daily: “The eviction by the police was done in such haste that many people are now untraceable and several of us are coming back to Delhi to look for them.”
Vice president of ZFI S. M. Shakil told OKHLA TIMES that the NGO is providing shelter to some 250 people on humanitarian ground at its Madanpur Khadar premise. “They have been living there for the last six days.”
The refugee issue had grabbed headlines in New Delhi after they protested before the UNHRC office on April 7 for being allowed to stay in the country. The issue was also raised in Parliament and the Rajya Sabha.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Balbir Punj (BJP) had urged the members to find out how come a large number of 4,000 Myanmar refugees turned up in Delhi. Also, he asked the government what it was doing to evict it. Replying to the queries, Home Minister P Chidambaram said without any religious discrimination the refugees would be send back in a fair manner as per laid guidelines.
However, when the refugees were evicted forcibly at night time, the report spread like wildfire with SMS being circulated in Okhla area about their plight.
An asylum seeker Zia-Ur-Rahman, who anyhow managed to make it to Delhi after being evicted to get his seven-month-old son to a hospital for acute stomach infection, said he feels more secure in Delhi. Some are back in search of their family members who have gone missing following the late night eviction, reports Hindu.
Zia told the daily: “The eviction by the police was done in such haste that many people are now untraceable and several of us are coming back to Delhi to look for them.”
Source: Okhla Times
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