Although there are no official statistics available, interviews with Bengali and Rohingya community leaders and researchers suggest that there are over 1.6 million Bengalis and up to 400,000 Rohingyas living in Karachi.
Although Bengalis and Rohingyas live side by side in dozens of shantytowns of Karachi, both communities are very different from each other linguistically as well as culturally.
But the Rohingyas generally call themselves Bengalis. “It’s because they want to show that they have also migrated to Pakistan before the fall of Dhaka and it helps them get naturalised citizenships,” said Rana Asif Habib, a social activist who has worked extensively with the two communities.
In Korangi and Malir districts, there are many neighbourhoods heavily dominated by the two communities including Ibrahim Hyderi, Arakanabad, 100 Quarters, Arakanabad, Chasma Goth, Burmi Colony, Ali Akbar Shah Goth and Zia Colony. They also live in large numbers in Ziaul Haq Colony in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Machhar Colony in Keamari, Moosa Colony in FB Area and informal settlements in Orangi Town.
Experts say that the migration of both the Bengalis and the Burmese had started in the 1980s, which continued intermittently until 1998 because of a liberal policy towards refugees during Gen Ziaul Haq’s military regime.
