Srinagar: For 45-year-old Mohammad Aalam, dismantling his home means facing a question he cannot answer: “Where are we supposed to go now?”Aalam’s family is among the hundreds of Rohingya refugee families in Jammu who have begun demolishing their huts after their landlords received official notices to clear residential and commercial structures from their plots.In Narwal, families started dismantling their temporary homes on Tuesday (September 15). They continued on Wednesday and Thursday.Videos and images circulating online showed Rohingya refugees pulling apart huts. They gathered their clothes and other belongings, as some prepared to leave with whatever they could carry. But where they will go remains unclear.Mohammad Sabir, a Rohingya refugee living in Burma Colony, told reporters that 70 to 80 families lived in the settlement. The families had been given three days to leave, he said. “The plot owners told us to leave within three days; we are clueless where to go,” Sabir said. Wednesday (September 16) was the last day of the notice period, he said. The dismantling continued on September 17, he confirmed.Sabir said many residents were elderly and suffered from illnesses and when their families are left with no shelter they would face immense difficulties. “There are people who survive on medicine. They are left with no option to work. Meeting daily needs will be difficult now,” he said, adding, “We had no option but to come to Jammu after leaving our country.”“Many of our people were killed and we were forced to flee,” Sabir said. “We cannot leave Jammu immediately because we have nowhere else to go.”A Rohingya woman looks out from a temporary shelter where refugees live following government notices ordering the removal of unauthorised structures in Jammu, September 16, 2026. Photo: AP/Channi AnandResidents of these localities said life here had been difficult. Water was not available regularly. Electricity supplies were erratic. “We somehow manage with whatever was available,” Sabir said.The vacating process started after notices were issued to landowners by the Jammu administration. An official from the revenue department, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the notices were served because the land was designated for agricultural purposes. “They (plot owners) cannot sub-let agricultural land for residential purposes,” the official said.Also read: Rohingya: Amid Concern Over Order to cut off Water & Power, UNHCR Team Visits Jammu SettlementThe notices have been issued by the district collector, Jammu, under Section 133-A of the Jammu and Kashmir Land Revenue Act, 1996. The notices alleged unauthorised use or conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes.The fresh drive accompanies renewed official scrutiny of Rohingya settlements in Jammu and Kashmir.A government-appointed High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes last month visited a Rohingya settlement in Narwal. The visit was part of its field assessment of demographic changes and related issues. The committee is headed by retired Justice Prakash Prabhakar Navalkar and was constituted on May 26, 2026.The committee has been tasked with examining demographic changes and suggesting administrative and legal measures. Government data presented to the committee in August identified 7,656 Rohingyas in Jammu and Kashmir. Of them, 6,737 were identified in the 10 districts of the Jammu region. Another 919 were identified in the 10 districts of the Kashmir Valley.The same data identified 504 Bangladeshi nationals in the Union Territory. Of these, 46 were in the Jammu region and 458 in the Kashmir Valley. Officials also presented details of cases involving foreign nationals.In Jammu, 101 cases involving 179 men and 21 women were recorded. In Kashmir, 16 cases involving 41 women and four men were recorded.Rohingya settlements in Jammu and Kashmir have been at the centre of political and security debates for years. The issue has received particular attention in areas considered strategically sensitive because of their proximity to the border.Burma Market in Jammu, has been a major settlement for Rohingya refugees in the region for more than two decades. For many residents, the settlement is also where they have rebuilt their lives after fleeing Myanmar. Most earn a living through petty jobs. Some work as scrap collectors. Others are daily wagers or domestic workers. But their legal status in Jammu remains complicated.In March 2021, around 275 Rohingyas found without UNHCR cards were shifted to the Hiranagar holding centre after a verification drive at MA Stadium. Further, the administration does not formally recognise UNHCR refugee status cards for residents in Jammu.Also read: Indefinite Detention or Castaway? Only Two Losing Options for Stateless Rohingya in IndiaThe Hiranagar facility was notified as a holding centre on March 5, 2021, to lodge alleged illegal immigrants under Section 2(b) of the Citizenship Act, 2019. The detainees remain there.Their continued detention has also raised questions over their possible return to Myanmar. The Union government has made no diplomatic breakthrough with Myanmar authorities, who have yet to accept their return.Rohingya refugees hold their children following government notices ordering the removal of unauthorised structures in Jammu, September 16, 2026. Photo: AP/Channi AnandThe renewed crackdown on foreign nationals has extended beyond the Rohingya settlements. On August 3, authorities detained 21 undocumented Bangladeshi nationals from Sylhet district in Banihal while they were travelling towards the Kashmir Valley.In April 2022, the J&K and Ladakh high court directed the home secretary to identify illegal immigrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh within six weeks. Official data estimates that 13,700 illegal immigrants live across Jammu and Kashmir.There have also been cases involving the alleged use of fraudulent documents. In October 2023, Kishtwar police booked a Rohingya woman, Anwara Begum, along with a “facilitator” and a revenue official. The case concerned an allegedly fraudulent domicile certificate.A similar crackdown in March 2017 saw authorities recover fake voter IDs, ration cards and state subject certificates from Rohingya shelters. For the families now dismantling their homes in Narwal, however, the immediate concern is more basic.They are packing what they can. They are pulling down the shelters they built. And they are trying to figure out where they will sleep next.