Ziaur continues his fight for justice of Rohingya and rights for refugees.

Ziaur was born on 20 June 1993 at Mee Chang Zay, Buthidaung township of Arakan State, West Myanmar. His family was denied the rights of citizenship in Myanmar and, instead, was subjected to human rights abuses with no recourse. His father worked as a farmer to provide for the family. The father was forced by the Myanmar military to do various kinds of unqualified job, like carrying their stuff around, and then performing the duty as a village border control – all these he had to do at least thrice a week without a payment or even a simple meal provided. 

There was a day his father refused to attend the services. Next day the military appeared at the house. The military beat and tortured the father which left him with forever crippled leg.

Later, his family sought refuge in Bangladesh before another tragedy hit them. Forced into a desperate situation, Ziaur’s father abandoned the family when he was just two years old, making them dependent to the maternal grandmother’s family. They were transferred from one camp to another several times as a punishment imposed by the government, as the family, including the grand-parents, continuously refused to go back to Myanmar. 

Ziaur himself was mainly raised in Nayapara and Kutupalong registered refugee camps. Situation worsened for the family when his maternal uncle was arrested and tortured by Bangladeshi police and government officials for refusing to return to Myanmar.

Growing up in refugee camps, Ziaur excelled in his studies. He finished primary education despite the many challenges ranging from the lack of resources to government policies that did not allow refugees to attend higher secondary school and college, which became a barrier for him to continue with tertiary education. 

Ziaur started social activism at the age of 13, fighting for his rights and that of his people and continued receiving multiple trainings, as well as to address social issues. He was also encouraged to work for the youth empowerment youth inside the refugee camps, even though him and other Rohingya refugees had to endure a very low quality of life.

In November 2011, he won an award for his leadership and service at the Annual Scout Campaign at Nayapara refugee camp. He wasn’t the only one in his family to make a mark in the camp. His mother was cherished too, as she was recognized as a woman who has taken the initiative to support herself and her family, and to develop skills for her own betterment with the “Standard Family” program in Nayapara refugee camp. She accomplished this while also being a single mother. 

Ziaur’s passion in community development propelled him to become a prominent man among Rohingya refugees. His was the voice that was rising in overcrowded and polluted refugee camps in Bangladesh. Even though there was no legal of education and no proper medical treatment. His mother had to face numerous obstacles and barriers just to raise him and to survive as a refugee in camp. They had to live in a tent made out of plastic and had very limited amount of food, which fresh food was at all considered a luxury. He was not allowed to visit areas outside of the camp, everything was controlled by the government of Bangladesh.

On 28 August 2014, Ziaur was kidnapped by human traffickers affiliated with the Kutupalong Camp in Cox's Bazar of Bangladesh. He was forced to get on a boat with more than 310 people in it, including women and children, some of whom were from Myanmar and also Bangladesh. He was beaten by the traffickers into submission and taken to Thailand. The traffickers hid him in a mangrove forest, where he had no food and water for five days. During this journey, he saw people dying in front of him due to starvation and improper treatment.

Then Ziaur was moved to another forest and fortunately, among other 134 boat people, rescued by Thai authorities. From there, he was brought to the police station in Ranong. There, Ziaur assisted Thai authorities working as an interpreter for international organisations. He was officially declared a victim of human trafficking by the government of Takupa district, Phang Nga, Thailand. Later, he was sent to a shelter ran by the Songkhla (UNHCR) in Thailand. 

The shelter’s staff turned out to be corrupt, so he escaped the shelter and was arrested by the police and sold to a trafficking syndicate this time. They asked him for a ransom of USD 1700, stopped giving food and water. After a week, he and others victims managed to escape the human trafficking camp and head to Malaysia.

Life was on hold. He continued attempts to raise awareness about the issues regarding human trafficking. He applied to UNHCR for sponsorship to attend Limkokwing University. Unfortunately, the request was declined due to his undocumented status in Malaysia. That made him feel unprotected, even with his status of a registered refugee obtained in Bangladesh. After he was registered by The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), he has worked for Rohingya Community as a teacher and interpreter.

It would be also relevant to add about the outreach of his activism. In March 2017, he was approached by two young filmmakers, who subsequently made a short documentary about his life to illustrate the plight of the Rohingya. The film called “Selfie with the Prime Minister” received an award in Freedom Film Festival 2017 and was also screened in different countries around the world. The documentary spoke of the challenging life of a refugee in Malaysia, his ongoing activism, and of his dream to take a selfie with the Malaysian Prime Minister.

In 30 October 2018, he received an award from US Embassy Malaysia, Tech soup, Yayasan Salaam Malaysia, Microsoft for the story telling campaign on Social Media of TechSoup’s NGO Incubator Pitch in 2018!

Even though, Ziaur faces a lot of challenges here in Malaysia. Due to the absence of a permanent job, he can hardly afford to feed his family, pay the house rent or even the basic transport expenses. What he lacked in terms of opportunities, he made up for in an indomitable spirit that pushed him to do better, achieve more, and be heard. His continued fight is all towards the betterment of his own people, for them to have a place in this world we share.

However, it is ironic that UNHCR considers his resettlement requests as unprolonged case, because he is new in Malaysia. Now he is treated as an illegal migrant and faces all kinds of risk this status entails. He is allowed to be arrested and detained and expelled into the dark social reality which is filled with harassment or discrimination.

He remains in limbo in Malaysia, where he has been threatened or harassed by members of the Rohingya community itself, various opportunistic NGOs, and disregarded by the Malaysian government, which refuses to address the Rohingya plight within its borders.

He is worried that refugee life will never end, as it has been same insecure since the refugee camps in Bangladesh and being a victim of human trafficking in Thailand. At the moment, he is writing a book telling his story and that of his people. To access related publications and other information search for ‘Ziaur Rahman, Rohingya Victim of Human Trafficking’ to learn more.

Thank you for your time!