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Rohingyas Hopeful India Will Not Send Them Back to Be 'Butchered' in Myanmar

© AFP 2023 / MUNIR UZ ZAMANRohingya Muslim refugees arrive from Myanmar after crossing the Naf river in the Bangladeshi town of Teknaf
Rohingya Muslim refugees arrive from Myanmar after crossing the Naf river in the Bangladeshi town of Teknaf - Sputnik International
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India’s apex court has asked the government to reply within ten days whether New Delhi can protect the Rohingya refugees, especially women and children.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — The refugee community of Rohingya Muslims are hopeful that their "brethren in humanity" in India will not favor pushing them back to a place where they will be butchered like animals. They claim they are victims of terror and it is uncharitable to brand them as radicals.

Close to 40,000 Rohingya refugee reside in India and they are eager to return back to their homeland in Myanmar and lead a normal life. "But the situation is not conducive," claims a representative of the Rohingya community in the Indian capital New Delhi in an exclusive interview with Sputnik.

The UNHCR has registered only around 14000 Rohingyas in India while the rest do not have a refugee card. They fear being deported any time as Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said that all the Rohingya refugee are "illegal immigrants" and government will take steps to deport them back to where they came from.

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Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of India on Wednesday gave the union government ten days to reply “if India can protect the Rohingya refugees, especially women and children.” The apex court of the country was hearing a petition filed by civil society members and Rohingya representatives against their deportation.

“We certainly want to go back to Myanmar because it is our homeland; but will any human want another human to be pushed back to a place where they are butchered? I don’t think any Indian who are our brethren in humanity ever want it. We believe the government of India will protect us also,” Rohingya refugee Sirajullah who lives in a camp on the outskirts of Delhi told Sputnik.

Sirajullah, unlike his fellow refugees who mostly work in factories and do scrap collection, is a graduate and he tutors kids for his livelihood. He is also leading a sports club to positively engage youths through football.

The Indian government in its earlier submission in the apex court had argued that the presence of Rohingya refugees was a threat to India’s internal security.

“We are victims of terror. We have been inflicted by the terror from the government of Myanmar and also the radical elements in Arakan region. We had to flee to protect our children and I think our people can never support or be with any terrorist activity,” he added.

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Sirajullah said he fled to India in 2012 and, ever since, he has been living in Delhi along with his young daughter and wife. He is still clueless on the whereabouts of other members of his family, including his mother.

“We had our own land and farming and we were leading a peaceful life in a dignified way. I came in the wake of military action in 2012 and I know people who have come in 2015 and 2016. But since then none have been able to cross the border,” Sirajullah says.

“We just hope we have some space for some time in India so that survive and we expect at least this much magnanimity from a great country like India,” he adds.

The crisis around the Rohingya Muslims escalated in late August when insurgents of Rohingya origin attacked security posts in the Myanmar's state of Rakhine. The attacks prompted a violent response by Myanmar's authorities, resulting in clashes and the death of hundreds of people while forcing thousands of others to flee to Bangladesh.

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