Three generations of Rohingya living in India trapped in a stateless cycle
Persecuted in their home country Myanmar, refugees taken in by India live in squalid conditions with little hope of ever returning from exile
Most teenagers have books in their backpacks, but Ashokur Rahman's bag has his most-prized possessions: a refugee card from the United Nations' refugee agency, UNHCR, and a single-entry visa from the Indian government that expires in 2015.
Rahman is one of the 6,000 Rohingya Muslims registered with UNHCR in India out of which approximately 4,500 have received refugee cards. However, he represents a small fraction of the population that has fled Myanmar fearing persecution, either into Bangladesh, or by boat to Malaysia.
Thousands of stateless Rohingya are estimated to be living across India, including in the capital, New Delhi.
A dusty road opposite an under-construction metro station in Kalindi Kunj in south New Delhi is Rahman's temporary address. It's a cluster of 50 houses sharing the same plot of land provided by the Zakat Foundation of India, a non-government organisation. More than 200 people live in an area roughly the size of three tennis courts.
The houses in this settlement known as Darul Hijrat - "Migrants' house" in Arabic - are makeshift shacks made of tarpaulin sheets and bamboo stilts. At 38-degrees Celsius, with no proper ventilation, the houses heat like an oven. During winter, residents say the houses are frigid, and they leak during monsoon season.