THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Standing near the window of a single room in the adjacent block of the Vizhinjam police station, 11-year-old Anwar Shah occasionally peeps out. Holding onto the grills, he inanimately watches the vehicles and policemen moving in and out of the station and then withdraws to the periphery of the room as if he had enough of the sight. In fact, he should be.
For the past 48 hours, the young Rohingya boy has been confined to the room with his sister, brother-in-law, nephew and uncle. The five Rohingyas were apprehended by the Vizhinjam Police when they reached the harbour town in search of a job from Hyderabad, where they have been living since 2015. As they hold a refugee card issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the family was detained to complete formalities before they will be sent back to Hyderabad, where their names have been registered in a refugee camp there.
Anwar is not mature enough to understand what exactly is happening around. Interrogation by the officials concerned, the inquisitive scribes and the occasional camera flashes have not yet been able to wane his innocent smile. “We have card. We can’t be harmed,” he told Express. He mentioned about the refugee card and was under the impression it guaranteed them the right to move anywhere in the country, seek whatever jobs the elders wanted to do and be at peace. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. The card is only applicable to the particular city to which it’s issued. For them it’s Hyderabad. Like Anwar, the elders like his sister Safiya Kathum or his uncle Irshad, younger brother of Safiya’s man Tayub Yasin, too believe UN card is their magic wand.
“I have been here for the past six years and we have never been worried. We show the card when asked and we are let off,” he said. Irshad appeared irritated over being constrained in a dingy room and complained that sitting all the while on a wooden stool made his legs sore. “If I was not in Kerala, I would’ve been playing football now and moving around freely.
If there is anyway, please put an end to this ordeal,” he said. Bizarrely, there has been another reason for him to be sullen from the morning. His repeated requests for betel leaf and paan were turned down by the police. Quite understandable!
Meanwhile, hunched on the floor was Tayub, the head of the household, tired of ‘too many questions’. If Myanmar was not embroiled by the sectarian strife that finally led to genocide and mass exodus, he could’ve been pursuing post graduation in some university there or maybe teaching. A graduate in Botany, Tayub and his brother along with their relatives fled Myanmar in 2012. While fleeing, he lost his father in the commotion and is yet to find him.
Vizhinjam Inspector Baiju Nair said Tayub and others escaped to India via Mizoram. They travelled through forests for almost eight days covering more than 150 km. There were days when they didn’t come across a single person. The police now feed them from the City Police Commissioner’s fund.
The elders in the family do not want to re-open old wounds. When Tayub began talking about Myanmar, Safiya silenced him with a stern look. She had several reasons to be offended with him. “Till this day I had never stayed in a police station. It’s he who assured we can start a good life in these parts,” she said as she held her child Sufiyan to her bosom.
The police said Tayub’s plan was to procure a menial job in the harbour and rebuild the life that was going nowhere. All the dreams appear far-fetched as of now.