Rohingya refugee in Hyderabad, India

 

“The value of the area has deteriorated so much that when there is a wedding in the family, we move to a rented apartment in a different area. Nobody wants to give their children’s hand in marriage to us anymore because of our surroundings now. We moved back to our own homes only after the wedding.” said Naser, a 20 year old local resident from Balapur in Hyderabad on December 2020.

​

In 2012, more than 100 families of the ethnically persecuted Rohingya reached southern city of Hyderabad in India. 4,000 km apart, the refugees traveled between Sittwe in Arakkan (Rakhine) state, Myanmar, and Hyderabad in the state of Telangana in India.
They live in temporary settlements, called camps, on unused plots of land rented to them by local landlords in a locality called Balapur. These camps are devoid of basic hygiene, and structure. They are often cramped. There is no proper water facility available at the camp. There is one common water tank which the community utilises to collect water for drinking and daily chores.

​

About 18,000 Rohingya refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are currently living in India. Of them, 4,000 refugees have found home in Hyderabad in refugee camps in the city’s Balapur area.

As of 2020, more illegal immigrant Rohingya refugees joined the first 100 families in Hyderabad. They underwent the same gruelling journey across the country seeking home. The camps in Balapur increased in number. It grew from one camp to over 20 crowded camps now, pushing the local residents, who have been living here for decades, farther out of the area.

​

Documentation from May 2016 to ongoing