SC asks Centre for report on conditions in Rohingya camps

The senior lawyer, appearing for the petitioner Zaffar Ullah, said the Centre and states like Haryana, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir should be asked to provide better hygienic facilities at these camps

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre to file a “comprehensive status report” giving details of conditions in Rohingya refugee camps in various states.

Rohingya refugees collect water for daily use at their camp at Shaheen Bagh in New Delhi. (Burhaan Kinu/HT File Photo)

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud considered the submission of senior advocate Colin Gonsalves that conditions at the camps are unhygienic and “filthiest to say the least”.

The senior lawyer, appearing for the petitioner Zaffar Ullah, said the Centre and states like Haryana, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir should be asked to provide better hygienic facilities at these camps.

The plea alleged that poor and unhygienic conditions at these camps have led to several deaths recently.

The Rohingyas, who fled to India after violence in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, are settled in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan.