Seven Rohingyas abducted from Dasarahalli, kin approach UNHCR

Seven members of the Rohingya community legally staying in Bengaluru for seven years had been abducted and assaulted by a gang of miscreants who took their mobile phones and Rs 40,000 in cash.

Families of the abducted people have approached the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees through a Bengaluru-based NGO Law and Policy
Research Institute. In a letter to the UNHCR’s New Delhi office, the NGO stated that 40 Rohingya families were living in constant fear after the assault.

Zia Nomani, programme head of the NGO, said 40 Rohingya families comprising 60 men, 52 women and 13 children, have been living in a slum in Dasarahalli for the past seven years.

The community is mostly into rag-picking business. All of them have been recognised as refugees by the office and are UNHCR cardholders.

“Of the 145 Rohingya, the refugee cards of many individuals have expired.

These individuals were unable to renew them due to the pandemic but shall make an application for renewal,” he said.

R Kaleemullah of the NGO Swaraj Abhiyan, who works for the welfare of the migrant communities, said the Rohingya had been victims of rape and torture.

“Knowing their vulnerability, miscreants have been extorting money from them. In 2014, a 17-year-old girl from the community was raped and a year later, a youth was murdered for trying to protect his mother,” he said.

In the latest incident, six people, including pregnant women, were attacked and their mobile phones snatched. They were taken to Kadugodi, from where they were rescued later, Nomani said.

“When they refuse to pay (money), they will be put into physical harassment which sometimes gets serious. Efforts are still on to trace the missing victim,” Nomani said. He noted that Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to people residing in India, not just to the citizens.

As a signatory to the international conventions, India must respect the refugee rights, which the Supreme Court judgements have also upheld. “Members (of the community) need protection now more than ever,” Nomani said.