The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre and some states on a plea to provide free food to over two lakh refugees and asylum seekers facing severe distress in the country on account of the pandemic and the lack of proper sources of livelihood.

A bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and A.S Bopanna asked the Centre and the governments of Delhi, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Telangana, Manipur and Mizoram to file their response on the issue.

The petition was filed by advocate Faizal Abdali who submitted that on account of the pandemic, an estimated 2.1 lakh refugees/asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, Tibet, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Congo, Palestine and Cameroon were facing severe hardships and were entitled to the protection of the National Food Security Act and right to life enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution.

The petitioner cited the figures as having been collected from the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

According to the petitioner, the refugees/asylum seekers are living in a highly deplorable condition without basic amenities such as food, clothes and proper hygiene.

“The conditions in the settlements are deplorable and there are ever present health challenges like lack of sanitation, proper toilets, shortage of drinking water etc,” the petition filed through advocate Amiy Shukla stated.

Most of the refugees are said to be hailing from Sri Lanka and Tibet.

The petitioner has pleaded that the authorities while extending the benefits, including food under the Food Security Act 2013, should not insist on Aadhaar or any personal ID documents.

The petitioner has also referred to the deplorable condition in which over 96 Rohingya families, who had fled Myanmar, are living in various settlements of the national capital.