Poetry, art and songs of broken souls

 

A young Rohingya refugee reads ‘Exodus: Between Genocide and Me’ by Rohingya poet Mayyu Ali at a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar of Bangladesh. (Photo: New Ali)

The river separates Arakan and Bengal

The river that Rohingya startle to hear

The crossing is to escape or to die

Where many are swallowed alive

The East becomes a roaring inferno

The West is world’s largest makeshift camp

Some leave their limbs behind, bodies are carried

Others cross with bullets embedded

A bullet in the chest is bigger than a heart

A body falls into the water

Another dances on the riverbank

The world just watches on

Whilst criminals erase their marks

The river cradles irrefutable evidence

Whilst the human solidarity is a lie

Waves bear witness to what victims suffer. (The Naf River)

This heart-rending poem embodies the agony of one of the world’s most persecuted minorities — Rohingya Muslims. And it has been composed by a young Rohingya poet in exile.

Mayyu Ali, 28, lives with his parents at Balukhali refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar of Bangladesh. He is on the front line of a cultural resurgence among the beleaguered community.

Born and brought up at Maungdaw in Rakhine (Arakan) state of Myanmar, Ali studied for a BA degreee in English at the University of Sittwe in the state capital before sectarian violence in June 2012 stopped his education in the second year, forcing him to work for an aid agency in Maungdaw.

His family fled following the Aug. 25, 2017, military crackdown. “My home and village were burned down by the Burmese security forces and my parents and I escaped to Bangladesh for our lives,” Ali told UCA News.

Repatriation of the Rohingya: Real deal or mind game?

Rohingya Muslims enter Shahporir Dwip Island in Bangladesh after crossing the Naf River on Sept. 13, 2017 to escape a military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine State. The Rohingya issue remains a thorny political and diplomatic problem between the neighboring countries. (Photo by Stephan Uttom/ucanews.com)    

The failed attempt to send 150 refugees out of over one million currently residing in overcrowded camps in Cox's Bazar back to Rakhine State in Myanmar was the first concrete step for their repatriation.

The problem is that none of those in the first batch of 2,260 refugees due to be sent home were willing to go. Most of them responded by fleeing their temporary shelters and going into hiding. Others held daylong protests opposing the repatriation move.

Dhaka has been working enthusiastically to return the Rohingya to Myanmar but the deal has been delayed several times after a repatriation deal was signed in January of this year.

The first deal, inked without any third party involvement, sparked an international outcry.

Bangladesh, one of the world's most densely populated and impoverished nations, was forced to sign the deal as it creaks under the weight of domestic pressures including a shortage of resources. Finding more resources to feed some one million refugees has invited a backlash from many Bangladeshis.

Yet the deal failed to defuse the mounting international criticism of Myanmar's handling of the crisis. It did not include third party oversight and, importantly, lacked any input from those at the center of the crisis — the Rohingya.

That being said, none of the deals signed so far have taken into account the key concerns and demands of the Rohingya, including calls for justice over the atrocities they have suffered, the return of their property, reparations for the damage done, and the right to citizenship in Myanmar.

Rohingya repatriation plan not sustainable

Plan to send refugees back to Myanmar lacks foresight as they are still unwelcome in Rakhine State (Photo: Stephan Uttom/ucanews.com)

The world's most unloved people, the most persecuted, the godforsaken — call the Rohingya Muslims by whatever name you prefer.

Those born in Rakhine State in Buddhist-majority Myanmar are unwanted in their place of birth and equally unwelcome in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.

They seem like left-out pages of history, as they cannot call the place they were born "home" in any true sense of the word despite their historical presence there being enshrined in the 2,000-year-old Arakan kingdom (located where Rakhine now lies) as early as the 8th century. 

Rohingya banned from marrying Bangladesh nationals

A Rohingya refugee mother with her child in Cox's Bazar of Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s government has banned marriage between Bangladesh nationals and Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, alleging that the latter are attempting to use marriage to gain citizenship.

“We have ordered marriage registrars not to officiate any union between Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas and also not to enlist marriage between Rohingyas themselves,” Anisul Haque, Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs told reporters in Dhaka. “We have already published a circular regarding the matter.”

The move comes after the issue was raised during this week’s annual meeting of deputy commissioners and top government officials in 64 districts of the country.

“We have received complaints that Rohingyas wed Bangladeshis and try to use the marriage certificate to gain Bangladeshi passports and other documents,” the minister added.

Haque warned that if any registrar violates the order they would face up to two years in jail.

In an interview with BBC Bangla Service, Haque defended the move when asked whether a government can dictate to whom one can marry.

“This doesn’t mean we are trying to control people’s freedom of marriage. Our intention is to comply with the official marriage registration system and we have clarified that marriage of illegal immigrants including Rohingyas doesn’t fall into that jurisdiction,” he said.

“Rohingyas have no legal status in Bangladesh as of now so they can’t be entitled to the legal option of marriage,” Haque added.