After being contradicted by his own government hours earlier, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri's tweets declaring housing and security for Rohingya migrants from Myanmar paved the way for a new dispute between the centre and the Delhi government on Wednesday.
The AAP administration has been accused by the Union Home Ministry of delaying the declaration of the neighbourhood where they reside as a "detention centre," while the Delhi government has accused the centre of "secretly" attempting to provide "permanent residence" to Rohingya refugees in the nation's capital.
The majority of the Rohingya refugees in Delhi, according to authorities in the Home Ministry, reside in the Kanchan Kunj neighbourhood of Madanpur Khadar. To be able to trace the movement of Rohingyas, the centre wants this to be designated as a detention facility.
In August 2017, a state-sponsored offensive forced the Rohingya to leave their home state of Rakhine in Myanmar after decades of pervasive violence, prejudice, and persecution. They belong to an ethnic group that is predominately Muslim, but they are nonetheless refused citizenship and freedom of movement in their home nation, leaving them stateless.
A dispute that was likely sparked by Hardeep Singh Puri's tweets in the morning was finally resolved by the union minister issuing a clarification. He shared the official MHA statement regarding the purported plan to relocate Rohingya Muslims on Twitter and claimed it was the "right viewpoint." “Home Ministry’s press release with respect to the issue of Rohingya illegal foreigners gives out the correct position," he tweeted. On Independence Day, reports claiming that Rohingya refugees in Delhi will be sent to EWS apartments surfaced. The refugees will be given basic necessities, UNHCR IDs, and security by Delhi Police in the Bakkarwala neighbourhood, according to the reports. The New Delhi Municipal Council built EWS flats, which are situated in the Bakkarwala neighbourhood close to the Tikri border.