Rohingya families displaced after eviction drive in Jammu
Jammu: Hundreds of Rohingya families living in makeshift settlements in Karyani Talab area of Narwal in Jammu have been rendered homeless after authorities served eviction notices to landowners who had rented out plots to them.
According to Kashmir Media Service, residents were seen dismantling their huts and shops and packing their belongings after landowners asked them to vacate.
Locals said around 350 to 500 families living in nearly 80 to 90 huts have been affected, with many families having lived there for 15 to 16 years.
Residents said authorities first removed around 30 to 40 shops and then directed families to vacate the adjoining shelters.
“We are poor labourers and have nowhere to go. We are sitting on the roads now,” a resident said. Families said they had spent their savings to make the shelters liveable and possessed UNHCR refugee cards after fleeing persecution in Myanmar.
The Rohingya Human Rights Initiative said around 350 shelters have already been removed, affecting nearly 1,800 people, including women, children and elderly, without any alternative accommodation being provided. It said some displaced families were considering moving to Hyderabad or Bangladesh, while police were allegedly preventing them from setting up temporary shelters elsewhere.
The eviction comes about a month after a High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes, constituted by the Indian government in May 2026, visited Jammu and inspected Rohingya settlements. Government data shows 7,656 Rohingyas have been identified across Jammu and Kashmir, including 6,737 in Jammu region.
Rights activists have termed the move as coercive displacement, saying it violates constitutional protections under Articles 14 and 21 and the principle of non-refoulement.
