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Centre asks Jammu & Kashmir state government to confine illegal Rohingya

Subodh Bhasin. Dated: 6/5/2018 11:57:13 AM

Subodh Bhasin
Jammu, June 4
Jammu and Kashmir which has been facing insurgency from decades is also coping up with serious concerns in terms of security after thousands of Rohingya Muslim taken shelter in Jammu and its surroundings, with Union Ministry of Home Affairs taking the matter into cognizance.
The Centre now has asked Jammu & Kashmir and other states to confine illegal Rohingya settlers to pre-identified locations within their respective jurisdictions, record their personal particulars, including biometric details, and not to issue them Aadhaar number or any other identity proof.
It is worthwhile to mention here that the issue was seriously raised several times among various section in Jammu asking that Rohingya must not be allowed to stay in Jammu at any cost. According to estimates put together by the intelligence agencies last year, there are around 40,000 Rohingya Muslims illegally settled across the country.
Of these, 7,096 are in J&K (Jammu), 3,059 in Hyderabad, 1,114 in Mewat (Haryana), 1,200 in western Uttar Pradesh, 1,061 in Delhi (Okhla) and 400 in Jaipur.
The Union Ministry has asked for the meticulous preparation of their personal particulars and sought so that these details can eventually be shared with Myanmar for likely repatriation.
The recent announcement of the Union Government indicates the government’s intent to prevent a wider diffusion of Rohingya in India beyond the camps, and the Centre’s concern over possible presence of radical elements among them and their involvement in crime.
In a letter to the chief secretary of J&K government on Saturday, the home ministry highlighted the “ security risks posed by some of those Rohingya/foreigners who entered India illegally + and were involved in illegal activities such as fraudulent procurement and/or fabrication of Indian identity cards — PAN, voter IDs etc — money laundering, crimes and other anti-national activities”, sources said
These Rohingyas who can been seen on every roadside and streets doing petty business like vendors, begging, working as labor class have swelled multifold with in short span of few years and their fast mushrooming with fake documents have put the security agencies on high alert with people from all section of Jammu demanding early deport of these Rohingyas.
The communication dated June 2 reiterated the detailed steps, which had also been communicated earlier, to be taken by the J&K government. The first measure seeks to confine Rohingyas’ stay to specific identified locations. Second, the state has been told to enrol and record their personal particulars, including biometrics of each immigrant along with their address in Myanmar. Third, the advisory asks the states not to issue Aadhaar or any other such document to illegal immigrants including Rohingyas that may help them later in claiming Indian identity.
It was mentioned by the home ministry in its letter that a detailed form for capturing personal particulars of the illegal immigrants was shared with the J&K government in October 2017 but the required information has not been received yet.
Several times fraudulently Aadhaar cards, ration cards, fake permanent residence certificates and election identity proof were recovered from them ringing bells among the security corners.