42,579 refugee families residing in J&K

Over 42,000 refugee families,including from Pakistan occupied Kashmir and West Pakistan, are residing in Jammu and Kashmir, the government informed the Assembly today.
Replying to a question by Jahangir Hussain Mir, Labour Minister Ajay Kumar Sadhotra, on behalf of Revenue Minister, said as many as 42,579 refugee families were recorded to be residing in the state.
This includes 26,319 families from PoK refugees, 5,764 families from West Pakistani refugees, 10,115 families from Chhamb refugees and 381 families approximately from Burmese refugees, he said.
Stating that there was no national law on refugees, Sadhotra said out of the 381 Burmese refugee families, 351 families had UN High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) cards while 30 otheres did not have it.

The Minister informed the House that West Pakistan refugees have not been provided facilities that were extended to other categories of refugees, as they are not permanent residents of the state.