A TWO-MEMBER team of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) met Rohingya Muslims at a slum here amid a heated debate whether the illegally settled immigrants be provided water and electricity. Senior Protection Officer Tomoko Fukumura along with Protection Associate Ragini Trakroo Zutushi on Monday met the Rohingya Muslims and some local residents in the Kiryani Talab area of Narwal, an official said on Wednesday. On December 7, Jammu and Kashmir Jal Shakti Minister Javed Ahmed Rana said the water supply would not be snapped to the slums housing the immigrants, pending a call from the Centre on their deportation. Rana’s statement came after Rohingyas living on three plots of land in the Narwal area of Jammu claimed that their power and water supply were snapped recently despite being registered with the UNHCR.

 

Two days later, CM Omar Abdullah said the Centre should decide the fate of the Rohingya population settled in Jammu, asserting that they could not be allowed to die of starvation or cold. “It is a humanitarian issue. The Central Government should decide about them (Rohingyas). If they are to be sent back, do that. If you can, send them back. If you cannot send them back, we cannot starve them to death. They cannot be allowed to die of cold,” Abdullah had told reporters. “The Government of India should tell us what we have to do with them. As long as they are here, we need to take care of them,” he added. Abdullah, the National Conference vice president, also asserted that they did not bring the Rohingyas to Jammu.