JAMMU: A large number of Rohingya Muslims living on the outskirts of Jammu are spending sleepless nights as their refugee cards issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have expired.
In the absence of these refugee cards these refugees run the risk of getting caught by police as they have not been issued any other identity cards.
Till date the local police authorities have neither registered their names nor have they been issued any other identity cards.
Till the time these Rohingya Muslims will not get their refugee cards renewed from the office of UNHCR they would continue to remain vulnerable.
The ongoing ‘Quit Jammu’ campaign spearheaded by Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) has already created numerous hardships for them as pressure is mounting on the State Government to take a decision whether or not these refugees should be allowed to stay put here in the winter capital or they should be dragged out of the city of temples to ensure peaceful atmosphere.
As of now the State Government had adopted a muted silence over the contentious issue but one of the alliance partners has started mounting pressure and creating more awareness among the local masses.
According to several of these Rohingya Muslims, staying in Narwal Bala area, “the cards issued to them in 2013 have now expired in the second week of February 2017”.They claimed, “We are waiting for fresh cards after completing the formalities”.
Meanwhile, political parties engaged in tug of war over the issue of mushrooming growth of illegal immigrants have been measuring their swords to settle political scores. Despite remaining in the power both here in the State and the Centre the BJP leaders have failed to prevent fresh arrival.
On Saturday the State unit organised one day seminar on “Illegal Immigrants”-Big Threat to Jammuites, to highlight the issue of the settlement of people from Burma, Bangladesh and Mayanmar, who have illegally sneaked into and set up their colonies in outskirts of Jammu city and other districts.
Speaking on the occasion BJP State President & MLA Sat Sharma, said, ” the previous governments of Congress and National Conference compromised on the security of the state for vote bank politics and facilitated the unchecked flow of a large number of people from the neighbour countries. He said that the previous governments, few NGOs and the forces working against the nation, are responsible for their settlement in this border state. He said that the people of Jammu should understand the gravity of the situation which may turn dangerous in coming times and work towards the deportation of all such foreign nationals from the state.