STEPPING BACK

Context

Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri announced that Rohingya, who have made their way to India after facing persecution in Myanmar, will be shifted to EWS flats in Bakkarwala in Delhi, where they will be provided basic amenities.

They will also be given UNHCR ids and accorded round –the-clock police protection.

Who are Rohingyas?

• Rohingya are an ethnic group (largely comprising Muslims), who predominantly live in the Western Myanmar province of Rakhine. They speak a dialect of Bengali, as opposed to the commonly spoken Burmese language. 
• In August 2017, the Myanmar army launched a crackdown on the Rohingya minority, forcing over 700,000 of the ethnic community to cross the border and take shelter in overcrowded refugee camps at Cox’s Bazar.