Have you ever considered a value of knowing your date of BIRTH?
Have you ever considered a value of knowing your date of BIRTH - so that you can get together with family members to celebrate this happy occasion over a slice of cake, make a wish when blowing the candles?...
Most Rohingyas do not know any other date of birth apart from 1 January. Our parents were not conscious for marking the date in their calendar - the luxury they didn't have. And who would remember in the absence of a proper birth certificate? My mother did not have one, neither did I, so you can track my messy history through the UNHCR’s and govt’s papers with different dates and year of birth, as for my mother - sometimes even different surname.
I was born shortly before the 1992 exodus from Myanmar to Bangladesh started but my papers persistently indicate 1989 as my birth year. This doesn't make any sense when I compare to my mother's documents where her age equally makes no sense.
This is just about how deep this identity crisis even runs. When you are blowing your candles, think of us for one moment. That nation where half of the youngsters were born on January 1st.
