India backtracks on support for Rohingya refugees
Says will deport them
India's home ministry yesterday said that Rohingya refugees in the capital New Delhi would be held at a detention centre and then deported, contradicting a minister's earlier statement promising flats and security to members of the Muslim minority.
Hardeep Singh Puri, federal minister for housing and urban affairs, had earlier yesterday outlined new provisions for the Rohingya, signalling a potential change in the government's critical stance towards the refugee group from Myanmar. Rohingya refugees would be allotted flats in western Delhi's Bakkarwala area, provided basic amenities and round-the-clock police protection, Puri had said on Twitter.
But, just hours after Puri's tweets, the federal home ministry said in a statement that "Rohingya illegal foreigners" would remain at a locality in the city's southern reaches as authorities worked to deport them.
As of early this year, around 1,100 Rohingya lived in Delhi and another 17,000 elsewhere in India, working mainly as manual labourers, hawkers and rickshaw pullers, according to estimates from Rohingya rights activist Ali Johar.
He said some 2,000 Rohingya had left for Bangladesh this year, amid fears of being deported.
Meanwhile, the UN's new special envoy for Myanmar began meetings with top junta officials yesterday but did not respond to questions about whether she would seek to meet ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Noeleen Heyzer's visit to the crisis-wracked country, which began on Tuesday, "will focus on addressing the deteriorating situation and immediate concerns as well as other priority areas of her mandate," the UN has said.