COVID-19: Rohingya Jamaat attendees to be screened

New Delhi, Apr 17: The Home Ministry has issued a notification that Rohingyas who attended the Tablighi Jamaat meet at Nizamuddin will now be screened for COVID-19.

In a communication to Chief Secretaries and DGPs, the ministry said there have been reports that several Rohingya Muslims have attended 'Ijtemas' and other religious congregations of Tablighi Jamaat and there is a possibility of their contracting coronavirus.

The ministry said the Rohingyas residing in camps in Hyderabad had attended Tablighi Jamaat 'Ijtema' at Haryana's Mewat and had also attended the meet at national capital's Nizamuddin.

The Tablighi Jamaat congregation at its central Delhi headquarters has been the country's biggest Covid-19 hotspot. In Delhi, over a 1,000 people either evacuated or their contacts -- have tested positive to the Sars-CoV-2 pathogen that causes the coronavirus disease.

Nearly 26,000 Tablighi Jamaat members and their contacts were placed under quarantine at state-run facilities across the country.

Centre has repeatedly insisted that the Rohingya are illegal immigrants, even those registered with the UN refugee agency, and would be deported.

The Indian government estimates that there are around 40,000 Rohingya in camps across the country, having arrived over the years after fleeing violence and persecution in Myanmar, which denies them citizenship.