Rohingya injured in protest against detention in Indian-administered Kashmir

JAMMU, Indian-administered Kashmir – Dozens of Rohingya refugees were injured in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir after police used tear gas against them at a detention center located in Jammu region.

The refugees were protesting their detention and demanding their release or deportation. Their relatives, who were outside the detention center, demanded that they also be detained with their families.

The Indian government considers the Rohingya to be illegal immigrants and a security risk. The tear gas was used to break up a protest by the refugees, who were on hunger strike.

Video of the tear gas attack shows a group of refugees being surrounded by police and then tear gas being thrown into their midst.

Prison authorities have not yet commented on the incident.

In 2021, about 150 Rohingya refugees living in Jammu were housed in a “detention center” set up in a prison.

A Rohingya named Musheed Aalam told Türkiye’s Anadolu news agency that in many cases parents were in the detention center while the children were outside at the mercy of strangers.

His 70-year-old father-in-law is in the detention center while the rest of the family is outside.

According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the Muslim minority in August 2017.

Many of them had reached India to save lives.