Rohingya struggle to survive under curbs

Hyderabad: The fear of deportation to Myanmar has been haunting an estimated 6,000 Rohingya refugees in Hyderabad for years, but their very survival is now at stake

Hyderabad: The fear of deportation to Myanmar has been haunting an estimated 6,000 Rohingya refugees in Hyderabad for years, but their very survival is now at stake because of the Covid-19 pandemic that has robbed them of their livelihoods.

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“Forget about going back to our country, our worry now is how to feed our families. There is no work to do as everything is closed. We cannot even step out of our settlement because the area has been barricaded. Whatever little money we had earned last month has now exhausted,” said Fareed Alam, a refugee.

Most of the Rohingyas came to Hyderabad between 2011 and 2013 and have been eking out their living as ragpickers, cleaners, mechanics, and construction workers. They live in huts made of tin sheets and thatched roofs across five slums.

Noor Basha, 36, another refugee, said he has been working at a stone crushing plant at Velgatur and his family is stuck in Hyderabad, over 200 km away. “Now, I have no work here as the plant is closed. I cannot go back to Hyderabad due to the lockdown and stringent police restrictions,” Basha said over the phone.

Vikas Gora of Save the Children NGO, which has been working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said they have been providing groceries to the Rohingya. “We have distributed packets comprising rice, edible oil, wheat flour, dal, chillis, onion, salt and sugar, apart from hygiene kits to these families...”