Hundreds of stateless Rohingya refugees surviving in India were Monday considering their immediate survival after fire destroyed their camp over the weekend. Some claim the fire was deliberately set or was sabotage.
Refugees say the possibility of the camp having been "deliberately torched" can't be ruled out. Some suspects have previously been accused of lighting fires in the camp.
But Delhi police investigator Bharat Singh was quoted as saying "apparently, the cause of the fire is a short circuit," Al Jazeera reported. "Forensic science experts have collected samples of electric wires from the spot to ascertain the cause behind the fire."
"The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained and appropriate legal action is being taken," police deputy commissioner R. P. Meena said.
Meanwhile, Syed Hussain, who lives in the camp, told The Quint, "We have about 230 people living here. We came from Myanmar in 2012 and have been living in this area since then, but now our living space has completely burnt down. (At around 23:30 hours local time) people created a ruckus that the fire had started. By the time we could pick up our belongings, the flames came to our hut. The flames were so strong that everything got burnt in an hour. We did not get enough time to save our belongings. Everything in the house got burnt."
Another refugee Ali Johar said: "How long will this continue to happen to us? We have got refugee cards from the United Nations Human Rights Council but now many people's cards were also burnt in the fire. Apart from this, the identity proof of being from Myanmar was also burnt."
Thousands of stateless Rohingya live in camps across India cities including Hyderabad, Jammu and Nuh after fleeing from Myanmar in 2017. More have taken shelter in Bangladesh after the Myanmar army launched a crackdown on the Muslim minority.
More than 50 shanties were gutted at a Rohingya camp in southeast Delhi's Kalindi Kunj, The Indian Express and Hindustan Times reported Monday.
The fire - the second time the camp has been burned to the ground since 2018 - left more than 300 people homeless this past weekend. No deaths or serious injuries have been reported.
Delhi fire chief Atul Garg said the evidence suggested "the fire started from a house due to a short circuit or sparking in the main wire. Later, cylinders exploded and the fire spread rapidly," The Express reported.
The Islamic organization Jamaat-e-Islami Hind visited the camp Sunday and demanded the government rebuild it. It will ask the United Nations Refugee Agency for humanitarian assistance.
Many of the families said they don't know how they will rebuild their lives after losing everything again. Most of them are jobless because of the pandemic.
"Three years ago, we lost our house and everything that we had earned over the years in a similar fire. We had to start all over again then. Once again, we are back to nothing," Abdullah, 37, said.
An estimated 40,000 Rohingya refugees, many believed to be undocumented, live in camps across cities in India.
