In 2012 violence between the Rohingya and Rakhine
communities left entire villages razed. Since then,
some 128,000 Rohingya and Kaman Muslims in central Rakhine have lived in overcrowded and squalid
displacement camps. Denied both jobs and freedom of
movement, as well as access to basic services, they too
rely entirely on humanitarian assistance.
“There aren’t any real opportunities for employment
here; there are hardly any fish to catch either,” says
Suleiman, a Rohingya man living in Nget Chaung,
home to some 9,000 people. “Because there’s so little
trade, we can’t buy the things we want. People here are
Bangladesh 2019 © Dalila Mahdawi/MSF
sad. They are frustrated that they can’t go anywhere or
do anything more. We hold our frustration inside because we cannot speak out—there are no opportunities for
that. We cannot even travel to the next township, so people keep everything inside, bottled up.”
An estimated 550,000 to 600,000 Rohingya are still living across Rakhine state. Their already difficult lives
have become harder as they and other communities
suffer the consequences of a worsening conflict between
the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army, an ethnic
Rakhine armed group.
“We just want our freedom, to have our own livelihoods, and to sleep at night without worrying,” says
Suleiman. “The longyi [cloth] is a symbol of Myanmar,
and all the ethnicities of Myanmar have their own pattern, but not us. We wear the longyi, but we have no
pattern. We own nothing. I wish people could look at
us and see us for who we are. I just want people to
know who the Rohingya are.”
A young man looks on at the outskirts of Ah Nauk Ye camp.
Myanmar 2019 © Scott Hamilton
MALAYSIA: PUSHED INTO THE SHADOWS
Rohingya people have also been fleeing to Malaysia
over the past 30 years. But those who make the journey
end up marginalized and without legal status. Unable
to work legally, they often disappear into Malaysia’s
urban black market economy, where they are vulnerable to exploitation, debt bondage, and hazardous jobs.
Walking down the street or even seeking medical care
can result in refugees being extorted or sent to detention centers.
Iman Hussein in Penang. For the past 10 weeks, his employer
hasn’t paid him but he continues to work because he lives in a
small shelter on the site. Without that shelter, he would be homeless. Malaysia 2019 © Arnaud Finistre
Iman Hussein, 22, fled Rakhine in 2015, spending time
in Thailand before arriving in Penang, Malaysia. Like
many refugees, he has eked out a living by working in
Penang’s booming construction industry. His employer
hasn’t paid him his salary for the past 10 weeks, but
Hussein says he has no choice but to keep working as
he lives on-site and would be destitute if he left.
83
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents