Jammu: Rohingya families have started dismantling their settlements in the Karyani Talab area of Narwal here after authorities served vacation notices to owners of plots rented out to the immigrants.
Residents were seen removing their makeshift huts and shops and gathering their belongings on Wednesday. The eviction drive began on Tuesday.
Rashid Din, a Rohingya immigrant, said they have been asked to vacate the plots within three days. “We are poor labourers and earn our livelihood through daily work. We do not know where we will go now,” Din said.
The residents said first, around 30-40 shops were removed and now they have been asked to vacate the shanties.
According to Sarwar Rohingya, over 500 families living in around 80-90 makeshift huts have been asked to vacate the plots.
He claimed that some families had been living there for 15-16 years.
Din also claimed that the families had limited access to basic amenities, including water and electricity.
“Water is not available regularly and electricity supply is also erratic. We somehow manage with whatever is available,” he said.
The residents also claimed that they possess a United Nations refugee card and said several families had come to India after the situation deteriorated in Myanmar.
“At that time, the situation was very bad. People left to save their lives and went wherever they found a route. We are now working as labourers and earning to feed our families,” Din said.
Another resident said his family had been living at the settlement for about a year and that he did not know where they would go after the eviction.
Authorities served notices recently to the owners of plots being used by Rohingya families for residential and commercial structures questioning them how they settled foreigners on their plots. The owners have been asked to remove the slums and shops from their plots.
The action came nearly a month after a high-level committee on demographic changes, constituted by the Centre, visited Jammu from August 10 to 12 to gather information on issues relating to demographic changes, including illegal immigration. The committee also visited the Rohingya settlement in the Karyani Talab area.
The committee was constituted on May 26, 2026, under the chairmanship of retired Justice Prakash Prabhakar Navalkar to examine demographic changes and suggest administrative and legal measures.
Government data presented to the committee in August showed that 7,656 Rohingyas had been identified across Jammu and Kashmir.
Of these, 6,737 were identified across the 10 districts of the Jammu region, while 919 were identified across the 10 districts of the Kashmir Valley.
