Rohingya Life

With my rohingya superiors, brothers and students who are struggling to survive and suffering in different ways of hardship. They all are vulnerable and innocent victims. They become refugees more than 20 to 27 years ago. Few of them were born in Myanmar and Bangladesh refugee camps and have no clue of what the future holds. This was just unbelievably agonizing. Based on my personal experiences and with my long experience working in the community, I can feel how their lives are tough. I really want the people of Malaysia and all around the world to know that we are here to contribute to your country. “The world can’t say we are not related.” # WeAreRefugee   # WeAreRohingya   # WeAreVictimsOfGenocide   # TerimakasihMalaysia

Thank you for your autograph!  Maung Zarni , after a talk about my life in KL. I would request all my friends to read this book: ESSAYS ON MYANMAR’S GENOCIDE OF ROHINGYA (2012-2018), author by Maung Zarni and  Natalie Brinham . Then they too will know what is really went on in the past, and the present day Rohingya in Myanmar. This book is really an important testimony of not just explaining genocide in Myanmar, it relates to what has become of the Rohingya today, and it exposes Myanmar's policy to destroy the Rohingya. I feel saddened for my people. Thank you so much again dear Zarni for presenting the struggle for basic human rights that are crucially important at this time all over the world. # SaveRohingya

AUTHOR:  Eileen Chew Abul Hussin bin Noor Mohammad poses for a portrait at his home in Penang, Malaysia on 17 August 2018. After years of trying, his family is finally preparing to leave Malaysia for a new life in Canada.  Eileen Chew  Mohd Rafik still recalls the day when Buddhist militants pursued him with a machete in his hometown in Buthidaung township in Rakhine State in Myanmar. His abdomen and shoulder still bear indelible scars from that traumatic experience. It led him to flee Myanmar for Malaysia in 2012. Two years later, his wife and two children eventually reunited with him—taking the same route by boat to Thailand, then overland into Malaysia, with the help of human traffickers. Rafik and his family are just one example of thousands who have been pushed out of their homes. According to a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), over 723,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to neighbouring countries like ...

Published by ASIA TIMES  I am a Rohingya refugee in Malaysia. In October 2014, human traffickers kidnapped me from outside the Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. They covered my face and tied my hands and beat me before putting me on a boat from which I was sold to other traffickers in Thailand. I was held captive in a trafficking camp for 13 days in southern Thailand. I was not given food for five days. I obtained freedom when Thai police rescued 134 Rohingya people in Ranong province. I was kept by the police in an immigration detention center (IDC). After I was declared a victim of human trafficking, I was sent to an IDC shelter in Songkhla, Thailand. I escaped from that facility because there was a Rohingya boy who was beaten by shelter officers. After a month, however, I was arrested again and sold again to traffickers. I was kept in a human-trafficking camp in Penang, Malaysia, until I managed to run away. Finally, in Malaysia, the Unit...

Group picture after Humanitarian Lab.2:0 in 2019 Grateful to meet MERCY Team Malaysia, especially President Dato' Dr Ahmad Faizal Perdaus at Humanitarian Lab 2:0 to address and find solutions to the pressing issues of refugees in Malaysia particularly the Rohingyas. Discussed about Protection & Ratification, Health, Education – were identified as priorities for discussion at Lab 2.0 among local NGOs, researchers, academicians, as well as international agencies including UNHCR and Rohingya community leaders at University Islam Angtarabangsa (UIA). Later, a Resolution was adopted and submitted to the Deputy Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Dr Wan Azizah Dr Wan Ismail at the Closing Ceremony. What an amazing work and time with most of the Rohingya representatives and everyone involved! Thank you so much Dr. Helmi ( Executive Director of ARC & Mercy Malaysia) for inviting me!

Posted  December 6, 2018 Author Human trafficking, also known as modern slavery or forced labour, affects more than 40 million around the world. As the world’s 3rd fastest form of organized crime, worth an estimated USD150 billion dollar industry, it is easy to see the financial incentive to lure victims into forced labor. Every aspect of this crime is a business – from recruiting, transporting, organizing to monitoring and ensuring the forced labor continues. Mirroring the stages of the traffickers, the non-profit sector working to combat this issue can briefly be categorized by their main objectives – awareness, prevention, advocacy, enforcement, shelter and resettlement. Although separate in their direction and functional objectives, these NGOs are dedicated in working towards one goal: to end modern slavery. However, without the right tools, the majority of the non-profit sector working against the crime fall behind the sophisticated techniques used by the traffi...

By Sophie Danielson  "Everyday, I am tortured by the words 'what if?' Not a day goes by when I don't think about my younger brother. He's 22, same age as you. We fled to Malaysia together. We were waiting outside the UNHCR office in Malaysia to get our refugee card. It was about a 45 minute long wait inside. I went in early and my brother was outside -- about to come and join me. While I was inside, the police came and arrested everyone standing outside. My brother was taken to prison for 11 months. There was nothing I could do. I got the refugee card...and he went to prison. And here I am, in America. I will never forgive myself for that day. If he came inside the office with me, he would be sitting in this very room right now. And now I may never see him again. This is how our life has been. What if things were different? What if we had a home? What if we were not Rohingya?" Stories of the Rohingya, the world's most scattered people. They des...