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The letter from Indian Railways alerts Railway Protection Force Over Huge number of Rohingyas Travelling to Kerala by Train
Fact Check:
The letter purports to show Indian Railways alerting Railway Protection Force (RPF) over Huge number of Rohingyas Travelling to Kerala by Train. The letter circulating on social media sites and WhatsApp also mentions a list of trains by which the inflow of the illegal immigrants can happen. Yes, the Indian Railway letter alerting RPF on Rohingyas Travelling to Kerala is a Fact.
Who are Rohingyas
Rohingyas are stateless, ethnic minority people in Rakhine State of Myanmar (previously known as Burma) who speak Indo-Aryan language. While majority of them are Muslims, only few are Hindus. Before the Rohingya persecution in 2016, around 1 million Rohingyas were living in Myanmar. Various human rights groups and United Nations agencies accused the Burmese Military of ethnic cleansing and genocide. The Rohingyas faced military crackdowns in earlier years as well, when they were driven out of the country. Hundreds and thousands of Rohingyas started fleeing Myanmar, moving to neighborhood countries like Bangladesh and India. Below is a drone video showing large number of Rohingyas fleeing Myanmar in October 2017. A detailed report on BBC News website bbc.com mentions United Nations saying the Rohingya’s situation is the “world’s fastest growing refugee crisis”.
About the Railway Letter on Rohingyas Travelling to Kerala
Chief Security Commissioner of Southern Railways wrote the letter to Divisional Security Commissioners of Chennai, Madurai, Salem, Trivandrum, Palaghat, and Tiruchirapalli. The letter carried the subject about huge number of Rohingyas travelling to Kerala by train. It stated there are inputs indicating huge number of Rohingyas are travelling from every corner of North East states and ultimately heading towards Kerala. It also mentioned the Rohingyas are travelling in groups along with families and listed 14 names of South bound trains they can use. If found, officers and staff in control are instructed to hand over the Rohingyas to Police and report the actions to Office.
As a matter of fact, the letter marked secret and dated September 26, 2018 was based on Intelligence inputs of the Home Department. In fact, the next day Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced that Rohingyas are entering Kerala. Notably, he also mentioned possible threat posed by Rohingya Muslims who started reaching South India. For this reason, the Kerala state police is put on alert.
Hoax or Fact:
Fact.
References:
Railways alerts RPF over Rohingya exodus to Kerala
‘Huge number of Rohingyas coming to Kerala by train,’ says RPF: State cops on alert
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