The Assam government has ordered a crackdown on Rohingya Muslims who are believed to have settled mostly in minority dominated districts of the state.
Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said that only some of the Rohingya Muslims who have been detected till now had been arrested.
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Sarma said that there might be large numbers of Rohingya Muslims who have come and settled in Assam, reports TOI.
He also said that the police was asked to detect all of the Rohingya Muslims quite soon.
The finance minister further added that when there were raging protests in the state against the Citizenship Bill, some network of sympathizers had tried to settle the Rohingya Muslims in Assam.
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He said that the police have arrested about 75 Rohingya Muslims till now who are either in judicial custody or in detention camp in Goalpara jail or have been repatriated.
Sarma revealed that most of the Rohingya Muslims have been detected and arrested in Hojai, Lumding, Cachar and Karimganj districts.
Sarma , when asked if the Rohingya Muslims can stay in Assam with refugee identity cards, replied that India does not recognize any such identity granted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) and only the Indian government has the authority to issue refugee certificates .
He said that the first Rohingya was arrested in Assam in the year 2009.
Sarma said that there is no refugee camp for Rohingyas in the state and some organizations are trying to push the Rohingya Muslims into Assam who have been living presently in the three refugee camps set up by India in Telangana, Delhi and Jammu or infiltrated from across the border.