Supreme Court Issues Notice On PIL Seeking To Ensure Food Security For Refugees & Asylum Seekers

"The settlements are in cramped conditions, making the residents especially vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19. The water in these areas is highly contaminated and has high iron which makes it undrinkable. There have been several reports in the past of various critical health conditions because of the intake of groundwater. The water tanker used to visit these areas, however, there has been no supply of clean drinking water since the announcement of the lockdown by the Delhi government. Even before the lockdown, the supply of clean drinking water tankers was very irregular. In 2021, the re-imposition of the lockdown due to the COVID-19 implied a complete loss of livelihood for all of them as there is no plying of rickshaws, no demand for manual labour - which are the occupations where most Rohingyas worked. It has affected them even worse as now they have no savings left and neither has the government provided them any support. Usman reported that the community is surviving on the little charity they have recently received, but very soon these will get over, and the community members do not know how they will survive post that. Further, most of the Rohingya work as daily wagers and the lockdown has affected their livelihood. It has resulted in a near-famine state for most of the Rohingya families as they have no source of income and documents to avail government services. In 2020, when the lockdown was first declared by the Central Government, due to no ration assistance, the Rohingya ate from their own pockets for a few months, thus depleting their meagre savings", it is submitted