On Saturday, Jammu Police detained nearly 170 Rohingya refugees after they were found to be without valid documents. The police exercise was carried out while collecting biometric details of the refugees from Myanmar.
Those who have been detained are lodged at Hiranagar sub-jail under Section 3(2)e of the Foreigners Act.
The Inspector-General of Police Jammu Mukesh Singh told these immigrants were not holding valid travel documents required in terms of Section (3) of the Passports Act. He added that they will be deported now.
Singh said after sending them to the holding center, their nationality verification will be done as per the prescribed norms, following that, the process to deport these illegal immigrants will be started. The Hiranagar jail has been converted into a holding center.
Media access has also been denied in M A stadium.
The verification process has triggered protests and exodus fearing detention among the refugees who have been staying in camps in Jammu for years.
On Sunday, a large number of Rohingyas marched from the Narwal area towards Mecca Masjid in the Bhatindi area in Jammu, accusing the police of asking them to step out of their homes again for verification.
On Sunday, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Jammu Kashmir unit chief Ravinder Raina told that the police action was taken following a request from Myanmar’s External Affairs Ministry to deport the Rohingya back for resettlement