Myanmar refugees in Assam transit camp launch hunger strike

Representational Pic/File

Rohingya and Chin refugees from Myanmar, lodged in Assam's Goalpara transit camp, have launched a hunger strike protesting against their alleged indefinite detention there, a senior official said on Tuesday.

The inspector general of prisons and home secretary have been sent to the camp to talk to the detenues and ''we are hopeful that the matter will be sorted out soon,'' Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Ajay Tewary told PTI.

The refugees launched their hunger strike since Monday evening and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has also been apprised of the situation, he added.

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Altogether 103 Rohingya and Chin refugees from Myanmar, including women and children, are housed in the camp after they had illegally entered the country.

''We follow the provisions of the prison manual strictly and all the inmates are provided with proper diet and other facilities,'' he said.

The protesters are demanding that they be handed over to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in New Delhi, transferred to a detention centre in the national capital and finally resettled in a third country.

Among the inmates, 40 of them have UNHCR issued refugee cards but they are still in detention, a Rohingya human rights activist said.

''We had fled our homes and country and sought refuge in India, We sincerely request engagement and advocacy so that we can live with dignity,'' Director of Rohingya Human Rights Initiative Sabber Kyaw Min said.

In July, 35 Myanmar refugees in the Goalpara detention camp had submitted a representation to the district administration for shifting from the camp and the letter was forwarded to the state home department.

The detention centre at Matia in Goalpara is the largest such facility in the country and became operational in January 2023.

India is not party to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol.

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