Rohingya woman detained in Kashmir since March dies of COVID-19

By Hilal Mir

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) – A 70-year-old Rohingya woman who was detained at a holding center inside a prison in Indian-administered Kashmir since March has died of COVID-19 complications, according to an official.

The deceased, Noor Aisha, and her husband were among 218 Rohingya who were detained at the center inside Hiranagar Jail in the Kathua district of the Jammu region.

PK Modi, superintendent of the center, told reporters that Aisha suffered from heart ailments and asthma.

She fell sick a week ago and tested positive for COVID-19 and was undergoing treatment at Government Medical College, Kathua, where she died on Monday evening, the official said.

On May 27, as many as 53 inmates of the center tested positive for COVID-19.

Following mass detentions in March, hundreds of Rohingya refugees fled from relief camps in Jammu to evade authorities who consider members of the community from Myanmar to be “illegal immigrants.”

Thousands of Rohingya have been residing in the Jammu region since 2017, when the Myanmar military launched a brutal crackdown on the Muslim-majority community in the western Rakhine province.

According to Mohammad Haneef, a Rohingya community leader, there are over 6,000 refugees in 39 camps in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.

While the UNHCR has provided ID cards to half of these refugees, India does not recognize the documents since it is not a signatory to the UN Convention on Refugees.

Indian officials have announced that they intend to deport the Rohingya to Myanmar, but a group of lawyers challenged the plan in the Supreme Court and called for their release from the camps.

While the top court did not authorize the release of the Rohingya refugees, it did say that they should not be deported unless proper procedures are followed.