00:00I am in India since 2012 as a refugee. I am from Myanmar. I am a Rohingya.
00:08In India, thousands of Rohingya refugees have been living in worse condition and they have
00:14been discriminated against and mistreated. Welcome to Deep Dive with Outlook. Today,
00:19we will talk about the refugee crisis. Thousands of Rohingyas have been forced to flee their homes
00:26since the conflict started in 2017. The Rohingya people of Myanmar are considered to be one of the
00:33world's most persecuted populations and they number around 2.8 million people.
00:40Since the 1970s, Rohingyas have been facing discrimination. In 1982, their citizenship
00:48rights were repealed and they have been facing violent attacks since 1991.
00:55Many Rohingyas fled from Buthidong district in Rakhine state. Many refugees are forced
01:02to live in settlements made of plastic sheets, cardboard and mud in Delhi.
01:09There are no toilets and people have to wait for the water tankers daily.
01:14UNHCR at best can offer the UNHCR card but shelter, food and everyday survival is a
01:22challenge. India is not a signatory of the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol.
01:30People have to rely on international organizations for everyday survival. Documentation remains the
01:38biggest challenge for refugees, especially Rohingya refugees who are living in India.
01:44The Government of India denies them any legal identity or documentation,
01:50including Aadhaar cards and birth certificates. According to the report by Amnesty International,
01:57in 2024, there is escalated violence in the Rakhine state with increasing deadly attacks
02:04against Rohingya people bearing a terrifying resemblance to the atrocities of August 2017.
02:12Rohingya men, women and children are being killed, towns are emptying out and vestiges
02:19of Rohingya history and identity are being destroyed. UNHCR sets up the resettlement
02:26criteria under eight key categories. Legal and physical protection needs,
02:32survivors of violence and torture, medical needs, women at risk, family reunification,
02:39children and adolescents, elderly refugees and lack of local integration prospects.
02:46Similarly, the ramifications of the civil war in Sri Lanka have impacted thousands of
02:52Indian-origin Tamilians and people born in Sri Lanka had to take refuge in India
02:58during the civil war of the 1980s. In 1948, the Sri Lankan government enacted the
03:05Ceylon Citizenship Act and the Act effectively denied citizenship to a large population of
03:12Indian Tamils who had migrated to the island during the colonial era.
03:17The Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948 was a landmark law in Sri Lanka that had
03:24profound consequences for the Indian Tamil community.
03:28Currently, an estimated 50,000 of them are living in refugee camps and 34,000 reside in
03:36individual houses across Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu government has adopted
03:42an approach toward the Tamil population from Sri Lanka and granted them Aadhaar cards,
03:47ration cards, PAN cards and driving licenses but these documents do not resolve their
03:54statelessness. The refugees in camps are issued identity cards tied to their camp addresses
04:02but obtaining a passport, the ultimate proof of citizenship, remains a distant dream for them.
04:09According to Advocate Romeo, the rehabilitation of nearly 6 lakh Indian-origin Tamils
04:17from Sri Lanka was an obligation under the 1964 and 1974 agreements between the two countries
04:26but this obligation was never fulfilled. The amendments to the Citizenship Act of
04:321955 have worsened the situation of people. Under the 2003 amendment of the Act,
04:40one parent must be an Indian citizen and other must not be an illegal migrant.
04:47For most Indian-origin Sri Lankan Tamils who are victims of ethnic conflict and civil war,
04:54proving that they are not illegal migrants is a nearly impossible task.
04:59The number of refugees all over the globe is increasing as a result of persecution,
05:06conflict, violence or human rights violations. According to the data by UNHCR, more than 120
05:15million people are forcibly displaced and there are 43.4 million refugees. As India doesn't have
05:24formal law for refugees and it is impacting the lives of refugees who are living in the country.
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