Oct 16 2014 : The Times of India (Delhi)
WAITING FOR SUCCOUR - Stories of abuse abound at UNHCR doorstep
Jayashree Nandi
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New Delhi:
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The road in front of UNHCR office in Vasant Vihar almost always has people in anticipation of an assurance of shelter or safety . They are so desperate that they often spend nights in front of the office on pavements or wait all day seeking a chance to share their plight with officials at the commission.On Wednesday , even when the Burmese refugees had already spent a night on the pavements demanding a meeting with the chief of mission, there were others seen sitting with placards and letters accounting their struggles in the city .
An Afghan woman (26) from Herat who requested TOI not to name her claimed that she waits near the UNHCR office almost every other day . She claimed her husband is with the Taliban. She escaped from Herat along with her brothers, mother and grandparents. They live in Bhogal now but she doesn't feel safe as her husband and members of the Taliban are allegedly tracking her.
“My letters to UNHCR are in Persian. I can't write in English. I was home-schooled in Herat till Class IX. In Herat, girls are not allowed to study. In Kabul, things are a little better for women. Delhi, too, gives women freedom to do what they want to live,“ the woman tearfully said. Her son (10) goes to school in Delhi and has picked up some Hindi. “My fa ther used to beat my mother and that's why we escaped. He had a gun,“ he said.
The woman claimed the population of Afghans is high in Delhi which makes it unsafe for people like her. “What if someone informs my husband we are here? They need to move us somewhere safe,“ she said. The woman has done a beautician's course in Delhi.But though she follows English, she is unable to speak the language.
Another young person from Eritrea in Africa who has been in India since 2005 had a placard which read, “Why which read, “Why am I forgotten?
Stop the discrimi nation. I am a refking a long term vi ugee, too.“ He is seeking a long term visa to be able to work in Delhi. “Back home there is a lot of disturbance.There are human rights violations and extrajudicial killings. Most young people have no option but to become refugees. But in India, I can't work and racial discrimination is a major problem in Delhi,“ he said.
An Afghan woman (26) from Herat who requested TOI not to name her claimed that she waits near the UNHCR office almost every other day . She claimed her husband is with the Taliban. She escaped from Herat along with her brothers, mother and grandparents. They live in Bhogal now but she doesn't feel safe as her husband and members of the Taliban are allegedly tracking her.
“My letters to UNHCR are in Persian. I can't write in English. I was home-schooled in Herat till Class IX. In Herat, girls are not allowed to study. In Kabul, things are a little better for women. Delhi, too, gives women freedom to do what they want to live,“ the woman tearfully said. Her son (10) goes to school in Delhi and has picked up some Hindi. “My fa ther used to beat my mother and that's why we escaped. He had a gun,“ he said.
The woman claimed the population of Afghans is high in Delhi which makes it unsafe for people like her. “What if someone informs my husband we are here? They need to move us somewhere safe,“ she said. The woman has done a beautician's course in Delhi.But though she follows English, she is unable to speak the language.
Another young person from Eritrea in Africa who has been in India since 2005 had a placard which read, “Why which read, “Why am I forgotten?
Stop the discrimi nation. I am a refking a long term vi ugee, too.“ He is seeking a long term visa to be able to work in Delhi. “Back home there is a lot of disturbance.There are human rights violations and extrajudicial killings. Most young people have no option but to become refugees. But in India, I can't work and racial discrimination is a major problem in Delhi,“ he said.
