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HomeIn PicturesWhat a Friday Iftar looks like at a Delhi Rohingya refugee camp...

What a Friday Iftar looks like at a Delhi Rohingya refugee camp during lockdown

Refugees at a Rohingya camp in Delhi said they have to rely on fruit carts during lockdown, making this year's Ramzan an expensive, and nearly unaffordable affair.

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New Delhi: Occurring in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, Ramzan this year looks nothing like it has before.

Social distancing has prevented people from coming together like they would have normally, while the economic hardship due to loss of jobs and salary cuts has left families struggling.

At the Rohingya refugee camp near Okhla in the national capital, the situation feels even more bleak as people say the lockdown has limited access to essentials required during Ramzan.

Since they can’t always go to shops to buy fruits, dates and Rooh Afza — the typical Iftar meal eaten to break the day’s fast — people depend on carts that come to the camp. However, these are usually more expensive than local markets, making them unaffordable for the refugees.

The small mosque built within the camp has been shut to prevent transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19. Instead, people now offer namaz at home.

ThePrint, which was at the camp during an Iftar, brings you snapshots from the lives of the refugees.

There was an excitement in the camp, when the cart came with watermelons | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint
Children gather around a watermelon vendor as people from the camp look to buy fruit | Manisha Mondal | ThePrint
Maryam offers Ars (Namaz before Iftar). For Iftar she bought one watermelon and cooked Jackfruit | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint
Maryam offers prayers before she breaks fast. For her Iftar meal, she has bought one watermelon and cooked a jackfruit | Manisha Mondal | ThePrint
Minara prepares Iftar for her three children | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint
Minara prepares cuts up fruit as she prepares the Iftar meal for her three children | Manisha Mondal | ThePrint
Iftar preparation is not the same every household | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint
While some just eat fruits, others prepare a more elaborate meal for Iftar | Manisha Mondal | ThePrint
Jafar breaks fasting (roza) with his family | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint
Having said their prayers, Jafar and his family eat their first meal after breaking fast | Manisha Mondal | ThePrint
The Rooh Afza sharbat Jafar's family could drink for the first time in this Ramzan | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint
A Rooh Afza sharbat, made with fruit, is a Ramzan speciality. Jafar’s family are having it for the first time this festival | Manisha Mondal | ThePrint
The dates for the first time in this Ramzan | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint
Dates are another common food one will find among households during Ramzan | Manisha Mondal | ThePrint
Sahida helps her mother with all the house hold chores and read Namaz after everyone is done | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint
With the local mosque shut, everyone now offer prayers at home. Here, Sahida can be seen offering namaz | Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

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8 COMMENTS

  1. When lakhs of migrant workers have fled their cities during lockdown, the Rohingiyas are still comfortably living in their camps in Delhi.

  2. Why is Print bothered about Rohingyas, who is funding you to have this artivles for a radical terrorist community who went against burmese buddhists? I guess Prashant Bhushan?

  3. How come these people entered into India. Where are the security forces? This is a big security danger. All these illegal intruders should be identified and arrested. They are criminals. It is surprising to see, how are they maintaining such a good life style. All have expensive carpets, air conditioning system, house have bags full of eatables and wearing good clothes. India has become an inn for illegal intruders.

    • Exactly, Yogesh, I was wondering the same thing. How did these illegals even arrive in India in the first place? Can’t we shoot them or get rid of them? They are not supposed to be in India.

      • We need to patrol our borders with Bangladesh very tightly. Shoot anybody from Bangladesh if they try to enter India.

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