Refugees or illegal immigrants? India’s Supreme Court will soon rule on which category the Rohingya of Myanmar fall into.
An estimated 40,000 Rohingya live in India. They fled Myanmar’s civil war, but face persecution in India too.
Philip is a pastor who used to serve with A3. He says the suffering of the Rohingya in India is “even worse than in Myanmar.”
The trouble for Rohingyas in India started in 2017. That’s when militants with the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army in Myanmar killed more than 100 Hindus in Arakan State.
“Immediately after the killing, [the] Indian government treated the Rohingya refugees as illegal migrants,” Philip said. “Since then, the Rohingyas faced certain difficulties, such as [a] lack of legal recognition, poor living conditions, inadequate healthcare, and so on.”
Indian landlords and shopkeepers have faced pressure not to rent or sell to Rohingya. Companies are forbidden to hire them.
“Under the Immigration Act, the CID (Criminal Investigation Department) and police can arrest anyone at any time and send them to jail or detention centers. Even UNHCR cannot do anything to save them,” Pastor Philip said.
“Since they are not allowed to rent houses or apartments, many Rohingyas sleep at railway stations and roadsides at night, and search [for] their daily food in the daytime.”
The terrorist attack in India-administered Kashmir this April made things even worse. Pastor Philip says Indian authorities suspected Rohingya Muslims of being involved with Pakistani terrorists. Since then, reports of arbitrary detentions and deportations of Rohingya have surged.
For example, 40 Rohingya in India were allegedly rounded up in May and flown to the Andaman and Nicobar islands off the coast of Myanmar. They were then forced off an Indian naval ship to swim to the mainland.
“Out of 40, 15 of them were Christians. This is how they are suffering now,” says Pastor Philip.
International outcry on behalf of the Rohingya has been present for years and is growing. Please ask God not only for justice on their behalf but also for their salvation. Pastor Philip says only around 350-400 Rohingya Christians live in India.
But the fact that there are any Christians among the Rohingya is an answer to prayer. Years ago in Myanmar, A3 (formerly Asian Access) was involved in training leaders among the Rohingya and other peoples.
(Image courtesy of English: Foreign and Commonwealth Office, OGL v1.0OGL v1.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
“It would not be wrong if we say the Rohingya Christians of Myanmar were the [result] of Asian Access Myanmar. The Rohingya believers increased rapidly [from] the year 2008 to 2012,” said Pastor Philip.
But then, the civil war dispersed the Rohingya church, and the work in Myanmar ended. Today, Rohingya live all over Southeast Asia.
“Pray for all the Rohingya in India, including Christians who are suffering from severe persecution and expulsion from the government and the neighbouring Hindus. Let’s pray for them that they may get their daily food, shelter and other help needs,” Pastor Philip said.
“Pray for the Rohingya Christians in New Delhi. In number, they are 34 families. They want to move to Bangalore to escape from persecution. Let’s pray that they may get the needed money [to] move to Bangalore to escape all the persecution and expulsions.”
