Rohingya refugees at detention center in India's Assam go on hunger strike
More than 100 Rohingya refugees living at Goalpara detention center in the Indian state of Assam are on hunger strike to demand better living conditions and call for their cases to be handed over to the UN Refugee Agency in New Delhi.
Footage captured on Sunday shows residents living in squalid conditions in makeshift shelter accommodation around the detention center.
In addition to the men, women and children of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority from Myanmar's Rakhine state, around 30 Christian refugees reportedly joined the hunger strike in solidarity.
"Their kids and other family members are in pain and they are also worried about their detention on humanitarian grounds, they all should be released, most of the detainees have health issues and their other family members are scared and worried and are waiting for their release," a refugee said.
"We were suffering in Burma (Myanmar) and now we are also suffering in India," she added.
According to the refugees, the camp, meant to provide temporary shelter, has instead become a symbol of their continued suffering. They say an immediate release and recognition of their refugee status would grant them a more stable existence.
India is home to a large number of Rohingya refugees who fled the violence in Myanmar. Following what the UN refers to as ethnic cleansing, an estimated 900,000 of the total Rohingya population of 1.4 million have left their homeland. The UN lists the Rohingya as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.
Local authorities in India are reportedly under growing political pressure since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power leading to an increase in attacks on Rohingya refugees and calls for their deportation.
Earlier this year, India announced it was ending visa-free travel arrangements with Myanmar and said that it would deport the Rohingya people, while there are fears the political crisis in Bangladesh could further impact the Rohingya.
The Bengali-speaking Muslim minority in Myanmar, the Rohingya reportedly face legal and bureaucratic obstacles in India which block them from formal employment, education and health care.
Clashes have escalated between armed ethnic groups and the Myanmar government's military forces.
Western governments have imposed sanctions on the country's leaders following the 2021 military takeover.
(Source: AFP)
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