BANGLADESH_ Five years on: Five Rohingya people talk about their past, present and future
Today marks five years since Rohingya fled the latest and largest campaign of targeted violence against them in Myanmar. Rohingya are still stateless and not officially recognised as refugees, though afforded some protection through UNHCR.
Nearly one million people are still living in the same overcrowded and ‘temporary’ bamboo shelters in Bangladesh, dependent on aid, and with little prospects for the future.
People in the camps have very limited access to employment and education, which has impact on their mental health and fosters a feeling of hopelessness. Their needs are enormous and overwhelming in terms of health, water and sanitation, and protection.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams continue to see the impact of congested and unsanitary camp conditions on the physical and mental health of the Rohingya refugees. Our teams receive an increasing number of people in need of treatment for skin infections (in 2022, the number of scabies cases is the highest we’ve witnessed in over three years), or water-borne diseases and chronic illnesses like diabetes and high blood pressure. We are the largest provider of psychological and psychiatric care to Rohingya refugees in the camps and we have seen numbers increase over the years too.
Mohamed Hussein worked as a civil clerk under the Home Minister’s office in Myanmar for more than 38 years. In 1982, he was stripped of his citizenship because of his ethnicity as a Rohingya. Since then, Mohamed has seen his rights and freedoms eroded. He was forced to flee to Bangladesh and has been in the camps for five years.
“I am old now and will die soon. I wonder if I will see my motherland before I die. My wish is to breathe my last breath in Myanmar. I am not sure if that wish will be fulfilled,” says Mohamed.
“Now that all our rights have been taken away, we are nothing but a walking corpse. The world is made for everyone to live. Today, we have no country of our own despite being human. I am saying to the world, we are just as human as you are. As we were born as humans, we wish to live a dignified life.”
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What do you know about the plight of the Rohingya?
Explainer about the recent history of the Rohingya (1978 - 2022). Credit: MSF.jpg)
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What do you know about the plight of the Rohingya?
Explainer about the recent history of the Rohingya (1978 - 2022). Credit: MSF.jpg)
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What do you know about the plight of the Rohingya?
Explainer about the recent history of the Rohingya (1978 - 2022). Credit: MSF.jpg)
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What do you know about the plight of the Rohingya?
Explainer about the recent history of the Rohingya (1978 - 2022). Credit: MSF.jpg)
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What do you know about the plight of the Rohingya?
Explainer about the recent history of the Rohingya (1978 - 2022). Credit: MSF.jpg)
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What do you know about the plight of the Rohingya?
Explainer about the recent history of the Rohingya (1978 - 2022). Credit: MSF.jpg)
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What do you know about the plight of the Rohingya?
Explainer about the recent history of the Rohingya (1978 - 2022). Credit: MSF.jpg)
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What do you know about the plight of the Rohingya?
Explainer about the recent history of the Rohingya (1978 - 2022). Credit: MSF.jpg)
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What do you know about the plight of the Rohingya?
Explainer about the recent history of the Rohingya (1978 - 2022). Credit: MSF.jpg)
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What do you know about the plight of the Rohingya?
Explainer about the recent history of the Rohingya (1978 - 2022). Credit: MSF.JPG)
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Patient Portraits
“When I fled with my babies, we crossed jungles and muddy roads in the soaking rain to get to Bangladesh. The journey was difficult, especially with children.” Tayeba Begum, mother of 5 years old twin shared her experience of escaping the in 2017. “You can keep us here or transfer us to another country, we will not refuse. If we can ever live peacefully again in Myanmar, we will return. Why wouldn’t we return if justice is served to us and we are given citizenship? Is it not our homeland also?” Photographer: Saikat Mojumder.JPG)
Patient Portraits
“In Myanmar, I worked as a farmer. I cultivated land up in the hills and we fed ourselves with the harvests. There was no need to earn money as we grew our own food. When the army came (in 2017), I was left unconscious after they tortured me. They set fire to the whole neighborhood. We needed to escape. I took some medication, gathered my strength and my family, and left.” Nabi Ullah, 25 years old shared his experience from 2017 with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). “We all miss our home terribly. We can only return if the government accepts us as citizens and returns our houses, land and documents. We want to go to the place where our rights will be ensured.” Now, Nabi Ullah repairs old mobile phones for a living inside Rohingya Refugee Camp. Photographer: Saikat Mojumder.JPG)
Patient Portraits
“I receive medical care for my diabetes and high blood pressure in MSF facility inside the camp, but treatment for my kidney disease is not available in the camp. I cannot go out to obtain such treatment, so I wish that it becomes available in the camps.” Mohamed Hussein, 65 years old Rohingya as he gets treatment for diabetes from MSF medical facility. Photographer: Saikat Mojumder.JPG)
Patient Portraits
“I have a dream to become a doctor but I think it will not come true. The education available in the Rohingya refugee camps is only for primary, no further. Our education is stuck where we left it.” Anwar Arafat, 15 years old Rohingya who escaped from Myanmar in 2017 and now living in the Jamtoli Refugee camp in Bangladesh. Photographer: Saikat Mojumder.JPG)
Patient Portraits
Nabi Ullah, 25 years old who fled to Bangladesh in 2017. “I have one son and two daughters. My son was born here in the MSF hospital. He is one and half years old. My daughters were born in Myanmar. My wife is now pregnant with another child.”- said Nabi Ullah in his testimony. Nabi Ullah and his wife are worried about their children’s future. “I worry about my children and building a future for them. Life here will be even more difficult when our children grow up without an education.” Photohgrapher: Saikat Mojumder.JPG)
Camplife/shelters of Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
It’s almost five years since Rohingya in Rakhine state fled a campaign of targeted violence waged against them by the Myanmar military. Most fled to Bangladesh. Now, close to one million people are still living in the same over-crowded basic bamboo shelters as at the onset of the emergency. These temporary shelters where Rohingya live have been enduring extreme weather conditions and fire accidents over the past five years. The stateless Rohingya are totally dependent on humanitarian assistance, and left with no prospects for a promising future or return. Photographer: Saikat Mojumder.JPG)
Camplife/shelters of Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
It’s almost five years since Rohingya in Rakhine state fled a campaign of targeted violence waged against them by the Myanmar military. Most fled to Bangladesh. Now, close to one million people are still living in the same over-crowded basic bamboo shelters as at the onset of the emergency. These temporary shelters where Rohingya live have been enduring extreme weather conditions and fire accidents over the past five years. The stateless Rohingya are totally dependent on humanitarian assistance, and left with no prospects for a promising future or return. Photographer: Saikat Mojumder.JPG)
Camplife/shelters of Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
Small, cramped spaces and unhealthy living conditions of Rohingya Refugees from the inside of Camp 9, Balukhali, Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Photographer: Saikat Mojumder
