NEW DELHI – Fleeing ongoing persecution in the restive Burma, thousands of Rohingya Muslims could not find any solace in Indian refugee camps, where a massive humanitarian crisis has left dozens dead amid fading hope of returning home.
"We don't get help from anyone," Sakuara Begum, a refugee woman, told Press TV on Monday, May 5.
"We are facing extreme hardship. My father died recently as he was sick and we couldn't afford medicine for him," she added.
Begum's short statements summed up the suffering of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who took refuge in India makeshift camps.
According to the UN Refuge Agency (UNHCR), about 6,000 Rohingya Muslims have refugee status in the neighboring India. Only 4,500 of them have received refugee cards.
Amid acute shortage of food and medicine, dozens of refugees were left to die in Indian camps.
"We are in desperate need of food and medicine for our children," Begum complained.
"If the condition like this continues for a long time, our family will die of hunger."
Mohamed Haroon, another refugee, shared similar woes.
"We are facing extreme hardship especially when someone gets sick," he said.
"In recent weeks, we lost one of our brothers due to lack of medical help."
Rohingya refugees are distributed across India, including the capital, New Delhi, where the bamboo and tarpaulin-made camps shelter thousands of vulnerable Muslims.
Along with lack of food and medicine, Rohingya Muslims have been suffering from high unemployment rates, taking menial jobs as a last resort.
Many Rohingya Children has dropped out schools to help their families.
Maybe if I were literate, it might have been different," Ashokur Rahman's, 16, a Rohingya refugee, told South Asia Morning Post.
"But if I go to school, who will earn for my family?
"My mother has to look after my siblings and my father is too old to work."
A Stateless Cycle
In India makeshift camps, the anguish of stateless Rohingya Muslims was apparent in the Refugees' three generations.
"Our parents lived as refugees, we are living as refugees, and our children might also live as refugees," said Sekowara, 25, a mother of three.
"I'm concerned about my children's future. I would return [to Myanmar, if the situation improved]."
Rohingya refugees are raising alarm about the imminent health crisis that is expected by the beginning of summer.
Besides the lack of the clean drinking water, refugees have been complaining of lack of hygiene and sanitation with no proper sewage system.
"These challenges will always remain," Haroon said.
"But at least we have a place to stay."
Despite the deteriorated situation of refugees in India, hundreds of Rohingya are seeking to flee the sectarian violence in Burma, leaving to India.
"I call them almost every day," said Abdullah, 22, who have siblings trapped in Burma.
"I worry about them because there's never good news from Burma," added Abdullah who is still waiting for a refugee card.
Described by the UN as one of the world's most persecuted minorities, Rohingya Muslims are facing a catalogue of discrimination in their homeland.
They have been denied citizenship rights since an amendment to the citizenship laws in 1982 and are treated as illegal immigrants in their own home.
The Burmese government as well as the Buddhist majority refuse to recognize the term "Rohingya", referring to them as "Bengalis".
Rights groups have accused the Burmese security forces of killing, raping and arresting Rohingyas following the sectarian violence last year.
Hundreds of thousands of Muslims have been forced to flee their homes in western Burma since June after attacks from Buddhist mobs on their areas.
The violence has displaced nearly 29,000 people, more than 97 percent of whom are Rohingya Muslims, according to the United Nations.
Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2014/05/06/rohingya-muslims-trapped-in-india-camps/
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