KARACHI: Rohingya community living in Karachi has settled in the country before 1971; however, few of them would admit to that as they prefer to call themselves Bengalis. The government of Pakistan is not willing to give them refugee status neither do they call themselves Rohingya on paper. Locals say they have been denied national identity cards by the Pakistani government which does not accept them as its citizens. After 1980, Rohingya coming to Pakistan were not allowed to become citizens of Pakistan; however, by bribing the authorities they somehow manage to get their passports national identity cards.
“We have had to pay extra, even up to Rs50,000 sometimes to get a Pakistani identity card made. And when the card expires, there is another wall to bang our heads against. It will be even worse if we happened to be Burmese,” Dawn reported.
They lamented due to this problem, they are being constantly harassed by the law enforcement agencies and sometimes they are left with no other option but to show their B-form or nikahnamas to prove their identity. And every time they pay off officials to get them out of trouble. Absence of CNICs means they don’t have rights as other citizens of Pakistan.
Karachi is home to more than 400,000 Rohingya Muslims –the highest number after Myanmar and now Bangladesh, according to an unofficial estimate.
More than 50 per cent of Rohingya population lives in shanty settlements which lack basic facilities. However, many of them have raised their living standards in the last three decades.
“The first exodus took place in 1942 following the first army operation that killed over 100,000 Rohingya Muslims,” Rohingya Solidarity Forum (RSF) told Anadolu Agency.
Pakistan’s former military ruler, Ayub Khan, had for the first time officially allocated land for Rohingya refugees in 1962 paving way for two main Rohingya settlements—Burma Colony and Arkanabad (named after the former Rakhine state)—in Karachi’s eastern neighborhood.
Rohingya living in Pakistan are living in social as well as economic crisis. The elders of the community fear that such situation could force their youth to turn towards global militant. They urged the government of Pakistan for better facilities and equal rights.
The Pakistani nation has been protesting against the genocide of Rohingya in Myanmar. Every other day there is a rally or protest against their persecution. It is alarming to note the lack of urgency regarding the Rohingyas at home as they suffer through all kinds of problem—from social to economic and identity crisis. It is disconcerting to observe that this community has been neglected by the state and social welfare for such a long time that they fear militancy might erupt among their youth. Rohingyas have been largely ignored by the media, too, until now.
