- Monday, March 10, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
With the Narendra Modi government facing flak over its decision to welcome Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and provide them with accommodation, sources in the government have tried to tackle the criticism saying the refugees were only being shifted and not given ownership of flats in Delhi, the capital.
According to a report in India Today, the decision to shift the refugees was taken last month following a high-level meeting over accommodating the nationals from Myanmar, India’s eastern neighbour.
The report said the meeting was chaired by Delhi’s chief secretary and attended by senior officials of the government of Delhi, the city’s police as well as the Indian home ministry. Therein, it was said that the Delhi government was paying around Rs 7 lakh (£7,286) a month for the tents where the Rohingyas were shifted in Delhi’s Madanpur Khadar area following an outbreak of fire in the camp where they were living.
The refugees, one of the biggest persecuted groups in Buddhist Myanmar, will be shifted to EWS (Economically Weaker Sections) flats in Bakkarwala village in outer Delhi where there are a total of 250 flats.
The report also said that all 1,100 refugees who are currently staying in the Madanpur Khadar camp will be accommodated in the flats.
While the Delhi Police has been asked to ensure security to the flats where the refugees will be kept, the social welfare department of Delhi will look after basic facilities such as three-time meals, landline phones, televisions and recreational facilities in the new campus.
On Wednesday (17), Indian housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri hailed on Twitter the Modi government’s decision to shift the Rohingya refugees to flats with basic facilities and round-the-clock security. Calling it a landmark decision, Puri said, “India has always welcomed those who have sought refuge in the country.”
“Those who made a career out of spreading canards on India’s refugee policy by deliberately linking it to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will be disappointed,” he said in another post.
