Rohingya Refugee Camp, Kalindi Kunj, New Delhi. Human Rights Law Network. November 2012

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2 Rohingya Refugee Camp, Kalindi Kunj, New Delhi Human Rights Law Network November 2012 On multiple dates in November 2012, health activists from Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) visited a Rohingya refugee camp in Kalindi Kunj, New Delhi. The fact-finding team documented the living conditions and challenges in the camp, where 300 women, children, and men fight to survive. This factfinding report provides background information on the Rohingya people and details the conditions in the camp. After observing the conditions in the camp and interviewing dozens of residents, it is clear that an immediate intervention is essential to protect the lives, health, and fundamental rights of the residents. The Rohingya People According to the United Nations, the Rohingya comprise one of the world s most persecuted minority groups. The Rohingya people are a Muslim minority from the Rakhine state of Myanmar. Since 1982, the Government of Myanmar has officially classified the Rohingya as stateless Bengali Muslims. The Myanmar Government failed to designate the Rohingya as an official ethic race, stripping the people of their rights and barring them from claiming citizenship. 1 The Rohingya people number about 800,000, a sizable minority of Myanmar s total population of about 60 million. However, because they are not considered full citizens, the Rohingya people are 1 The Hindu, Rohingyas are not citizens: Myanmar minister, July 30, 2012,

3 systematically and officially robbed of their basic civil, political, social, and cultural rights. As far back as 2004, Amnesty International reported, [The Rohingya] are also subjected to various forms of extortion and arbitrary taxation; land confiscation; forced eviction and house destruction; and financial restrictions on marriage. 2 Today, Rohingya people cannot marry without special permission from the state, they cannot own land, they cannot travel, they cannot hold government positions, and they must sign a document pledging to have fewer than two children. Many Rohingya children are officially prohibited from attending school, so they have an exclusively religious education in the Madrassa. In 2009, a senior Burmese official called the Rohingya ugly as ogres and said that they are alien to Burma. The Genocide Prevention Advisory Network, an international network of experts on the causes, consequences, and prevention, of genocide and other mass atrocities has issued an alert regarding the Rohingya in Myanmar. 3 In 2012, decades of ethnic tension exploded into ethnic violence. The incident that sparked the violence remains contested, but the majority population set upon the Rohingya minority and completely razed entire villages. As of June, at least 650 people were dead, 1,200 people were missing, and 80,000 people were displaced. Rape became the norm for most women. Men are routinely subjected to arbitrary arrest, torture, and forced labour. Ethnic violence spiked again in October Madrassa schools have been destroyed and the staff has been arrested and tortured. Today, radical Buddhist monks from the majority population have blocked humanitarian assistance from reaching the struggling Rohingya people. 5 The violence spurred a mass exodus of refugees, including many who fled Myanmar by train or by boat. The Guardian reports, There are many horror stories of the Rohingya who, no longer able to face the utter hopelessness of their lives, set forth on makeshift rafts into the sea. Too many such journeys have 2 Amnesty International, Myanmar: The Rohingya Minority: Fundamental Rights Denied, 18 May Genocide Prevention Advisory Network, Countries at Risk of Genocide, Politicide, or Mass Atrocities 2012, May The New York Times, Dozens Are Killed in Myanmar as Sectarian Violence Flares Again, October 26, The Independent, Burma s monks call for Muslim community to be shunned, 25 July 2012, html.

4 been abruptly ended by Thai and Malaysian naval patrols that force these rafts into deeper waters and then leave them to die. 6 The Indian Navy routinely saves small boats of barely living Rohingya refugees who have drifted into its waters. Other refugees walked to Bangladesh. Over 29,000 Rohingya refugees currently live in camps in Bangladesh. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the living conditions in Bangladesh s camps do not meet minimum international standards. High rates of children and pregnant or lactating women suffer from acute malnutrition. 7 Because the Government of Bangladesh has refused to register Rohingya refugees since 1992, an additional 200,000 Rohingya live in Bangladesh without official refugee status. As a result, they have no access to food rations from the World Food Programme. The refugees have no access to basic services like health care and education. Other refugees have come from Bangladesh to India in search of a new life. Although their numbers remain small, the Rohingya in India face substantial challenges as a result of language issues, isolation, and their stateless/paperless status. Rohingyas in India protested at the UNHCR to receive recognition as refugees and the UNHCR granted 1,800 Rohingya asylum seeker cards to protect them from arrest or expulsion, but they are not officially recognized as refugees, a status that facilitates resettlement to a third country and financial assistance from UNCHR. About 100,000 Rohingya refugees live in Northeast India, but the UNHCR has no access to the contested area. The Rohingya in India live in squalid camps without access to schools, medical facilities, or regular work. India does not allow refugees or asylum seekers to work, so the Rohingya are forced to eke out a living in the informal sector as day labourers or domestics. For many single women and widows, marriage to an Indian man is the only salvation they can hope for. India is not a party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol. Because India has an ad hoc approach to each refugee population, the UNHCR has to negotiate the status, benefits, and entitlements of each group. This 6 The Guardian, Little help for the persecuted Rohingya of Burma, December 1, 2011, 7 UNHCR, 2012 UNHCR country operations profile Bangladesh, UNHCR Global Appeal ,

5 Rohingya people illustrate how India s impromptu approach to refugees makes protecting vulnerable people especially challenging. 8 The future remains grim for the Rohingya people. The notion that the Rohingya are stateless foreigners is so deeply ingrained in Myanmar, that Rohingya people have no guarantee for their short-term physical safety or their long term access to fundamental rights. 9 The Kalindi Kunj Camp 8 The Nation, India s Myanmar refugees get visas after month of protests in Delhi, May 17, 2012, 9 Radio Free Asia, Violence Throws Spotlight on Rohingya, 12 June

6 View of the camp from the access road Over 300 Rohingya people, each with their own story of murder, torture, rape, arbitrary arrest, and extortion currently live in a makeshift refugee camp in Kalindi Kunj, New Delhi. While some of the refugees have been in India for about three years, other families arrived after the ethnic violence in The camp sits in a recessed piece of land about six feet (about two meters) below the road. The members of the fact-finding team who have conducted fieldwork in slums and villages throughout India were shocked by the conditions in the camp. This fact-finding outlines the conditions the team observed and the areas in need of immediate government attention.

7 The road cum washroom leading up to the camp The Inhabitants The families in the camp have first-hand experience of the absolute brutality human beings are capable of murder, rape, and torture. The children have seen their schools destroyed, their families threatened, and their parents murdered. When the fact-finding team arrived in the camp, several residents narrated their experiences in Myanmar. The team s translator and the leader of the camp is Jaffar Alam, son of Mohammed Haroon, age 22. Before he came to India, Jaffar s father was murdered by Myanmar s military police. Although the violence in the summer of 2012 prompted his family to flee the country, he told the team that he has felt threatened for 22 years, since the day he was born. He fled to Bangladesh on foot and reached India by

8 train. He assisted the fact-finding team with interviews of various camp inhabitants. The stories of each family paint a disturbing picture of past violence and a present destitution. One woman, Noor Begum, reported that the Myanmar military police repeatedly came to her house to extort money. Eventually, when her family could no longer pay the police, the authorities removed her husband s name from the family register, meaning they were not eligible for government entitlement programs. With his name off the family register, her husband could be arrested if the police visited the home and he was absent. Knowing the likely outcome of his arrest, her family left everything behind and ventured to India. Her husband was separated from the family during the trip and now Noor Begum lives alone with her four children. She has not heard from her husband since she last saw him. Another man witnessed the Myanmar Security Police drag away all the teachers from his village Madrassa. The police killed the teachers. The man at the camp told the fact-finding team that he could not eat for several days after witnessing this violence. The police also held him, beat him, and dragged him to the police station, where he was kept in a stable with farm animals. Eventually, senior members of his village came to the police station with Rupees 6 lakh to free him. After his release, the military began searching for him. When he heard this news in September 2012, he had no choice but to immediately flee, leaving behind his wife and children. He has only spoken to his family two times during his twomonth stay in India. People from the camp repeatedly stressed that the only people to make it out of Myanmar were women, the elderly, children, and the infirm. All of the able bodied Rohingya were systematically killed with guns, swords, and axes. After listening to these stories, the fact-finding team explored the camp, spoke with two women who had recently given birth, and interviewed children in the camp.

9 A child wanders through the camp Housing Each family lives in a tiny room with tarp or brick walls and improvised construction. The camp does not have electricity. The crude construction provides no protection from the elements. In the winter, the families heat their rooms with wood stoves. The acrid smoke does not have a proper exit vent, and therefore newborn infants, children, and pregnant women continuously damage their lungs, throats, and eyes by breathing in smoke. Members of the fact-finding team struggled to conduct interviews while the smoke caused constant eye watering and coughing. Most families do not have blankets or mats to cover the ground and/or to keep warm on cold winter nights. A ditch behind each row of homes collects waste.

10 Additionally, the home structure provides absolutely zero privacy for each family. While the fact-finding team conducted interviews, people in the adjoining homes pulled back the tarp to listen, watch, and even comment. While privacy may seem like a perk of privilege, it comprises a fundamental component of human dignity and wellbeing. The interior of one family s home in the camp Nutrition People from the camp reported that they do not have adequate food supplies. Charities bring food for the families from time to time, but the residents do not have a steady and reliable source of nutritious food.

11 Some of the men in the camp are able to work as day laborers and their salaries go to purchasing food for their families, but again, the work is not guaranteed. Water/Hygiene The camp has a single water pump. The pump is located at the entrance to the camp. Standing water surrounds the pump and half-dressed children play in the water. The families obtain drinking, bathing, and cooking water from the pump. The camp does not have toilet or bathing facilities. The washroom area is a patch of dirt on the road above the camp. There is no sanitation or privacy. The fact-finding team witnessed children and adults bathing in full view of the camp and passing traffic. It is not surprising that chronic diarrhea plagues the camp. The camp s toilet/washroom area

12 Standing water and waste at the camp water pump Children One of the most striking features of the camp is the high number of children in the camp. They children cannot attend Indian school for a number of reasons: language barriers, lost paperwork, no resources to get to school, parental ignorance about the school system, and limited access to benefit schemes. The children roam around the camp all day without adult supervision. During the summer, many children suffered from Dengue fever and they did not receive medical attention.

13 These children have suffered enormous psychological trauma. The fact-finding team was able to speak to many of the children about their experiences in Myanmar. One 11-year-old boy, Shafikallem, came to India after his father was arrested and murdered in jail. Another boy, Mohammed Yusef, age 14, told the fact-finding team that his family came to India after his sister was raped by the military police. The police also murdered his sister s husband. He told the fact-finding team that, no one cares about our people. With the help of some volunteers, the camp recently established a makeshift school. The school consists of a tarp strung up at the back of the camp. On the day the fact-finding team visited the fourth day of the school s existence the teacher had not come to the camp. Access to Medical Care Although several NGOs have pledged to provide basic medical care for the camp residents, everyone in the camp reported that doctors never visit the camp. In cases of extreme illness, residents will hire an auto for the trip to the private hospital or to a public facility. Jaffar, the translator and camp resident, told the fact-finding team that when people from the camp reach the hospital, they always pay a fee. The camp residents struggle to navigate India s public health system, and they are not sure which hospitals they can visit for care, what their entitlements are, and what process they should follow for obtaining medicines and supplies. Maternal Health Care Given the Delhi High Court s historic ruling in Laxmi Mandal vs. Deen Dayal Hospital & Ors. (W.P. (C) 8852/2008), the fact-finding team was especially interested in speaking with pregnant and lactating women in the camp. Two women had recently delivered inside the camp, and the team interviewed both with the help of a translator.

14 1. Manuwara, w/o Mohammed Hannifa, age 18 Manuwara in her home with her newborn Manuwara delivered her baby on 26 November 2012, a day before the fact-finding team visited the camp. She delivered her baby in her home at the refugee camp with the help of other women in the camp. During her pregnancy she received zero antenatal care. In the 24 hours since her delivery, she had received no medical care whatsoever. She is not breastfeeding and she did not feel comfortable discussing the issue with men (the only Hindi to Rohingya translator was male) in the room. Although she cannot walk and is experiencing intense pain, Manuwara s husband cannot afford to take her to a hospital. Manuwara left Myanmar 6 months ago, in the early stages of her pregnancy. She travelled to India with her husband; the rest of her family is still in Myanmar. She has no idea whether her family is safe.

15 2. Manira, w/o Saiful, age 28 Manira in her home at the camp Manira has been blind since birth. Her first baby was born in a camp in Allahabad shortly after she reached India. Both Manira s father and first born died in the Allahabad camp. In Myanmar, Manira s husband lost property to the military police and was subjected to atrocities. Manira did not want to elaborate on her husband s experiences. Another of Manira s relatives was murdered by the military police a year ago. During her pregnancy, one of the volunteers who works with the residents of the camp took her to a doctor because she was suffering from a fever. Her husband had to scrape together Rs to pay for her treatment. She delivered her second baby in the camp with the help of her neighbours on 20 October Since the delivery, she has felt weak, nauseated, and suffered from stomach pain. She cannot do anything during the day and she rests in her tent with the newborn.

16 A young girl helps Manira with her newborn A doctor came to visit her after she delivered and vaccinated the baby, she thinks he gave injections, but the doctor did not explain what they were for. She does not know why the doctor has visited her and not other women in the camp. Most urgent action required To fulfill the basic human fundamental rights of the Rohingya refugees, immediate and drastic improvements are crucial. The most pressing needs include: Access to medical care, including maternal health care, paediatric care and psychological treatment: A doctor should visit the residents of the camp regularly. Pregnant women, lactating women, and children should also have consistent check-ups with medical professionals who travel to the

17 camp. At the same time, the camp residents should be given instruction regarding the Indian Public Health System and the facilities they can access. Access to clean water and clean facilities: Likewise, the camp residents need safe, clean drinking water to immediately improve their standard of health. The camp should be outfitted with hygienic and private toilet facilities. Standing water needs to be addressed to prevent mosquitoes from infesting the camp. Access to nutrition: The camp residents need their basic nutritional requirements met to avoid malnutrition and susceptibility to illness. Improvements to shelters The camp also requires proper heating and cooking devices to reduce the exposure to smoke and air pollution in the camp. At the same time, to remain healthy, the residents also need basic protection from rain, cold, and sun. They should also have mosquito nets. Access to education Finally, the children in the camp are left to wander the camp. Their current ad hoc school does not fulfil the minimum requirements the children would find in the public school system. The children from the camp should have access to the local schools. The process for enrolling children in school should be clear to all the parents. For children who do not speak Hindi, a

18 reliable, full-time, professional Hindi teacher should bring the children to the level needed to enrol them in school. Conclusion Increased respect for the residents fundamental rights would substantially improve the living standards, health, and overall well-being of the residents in the Kalindi Kunj camp.