SRINAGAR: Almost all the 270 Rohingya refugees who are in detention in Hiranagar Sub-Jail are protesting over their continued detention. They are seeking their release or repatriation to junta-ruled Myanmar.
Their protest started on May 12, 2023, when they started refusing to take food. After an SDM rank official visited them, reports appearing in the media said, they accepted dry ration and started cooking themselves.
In March 2021, the government rounded up 271 Rohingyas, including 74 women and 70 children and detained them in the sub-jail. The sub-jail was notified as a “holding centre” on March 5, 2021, under Section 2(b) of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
Those arrested are only a part of the 5700-odd Rohingya Muslim refugees living in Jammu and Kashmir, mostly in Jammu. They are considered the world’s most persecuted Muslims.
Earlier police said there were 17 FIRs registered against 38 Rohingya Refugees. On April 6, 2022, the High Court had directs the government to identify all illegal immigrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh in Jammu and Kashmir within six weeks. The government, in its response put the number at 13,400.
