Rohingya Muslims, fleeing from military brutality in Myanmar, have been arriving in India in large numbers since 2008. An estimated 7,000 have ended up around the city of Jammu, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir, where they live in makeshift shelters made of recyclable materials such as tarpaulin sheets, bamboo sticks and cardboard. During the rainy season, water rushes through the roofs.
In the past few years, Jammu has witnessed many protests by rightwing organizations, demanding the deportation of Rohingya refugees who have been labelled a ‘security threat’ to the region. In the year 2021, the Jammu and Kashmir union territory’s government detained around 155 Myanmar nationals for not having valid documents. They were sent to a holding centre, leaving families without fathers and in some cases without mothers too.
