More than 65,000
Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar since October after the
Burmese army launched a crackdown in Rakhine State.
By David Sim
January 24, 2017
More than 65,000
Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar since October last year,
after the Burmese army launched a crackdown in Rakhine State. This was in
response to what they say was an attack by Rohingya insurgents in which nine
police officers were killed. Waves of Rohingya civilians have since fled across
the border, most living in makeshift camps and refugee centres. Many tell
harrowing stories of the Burmese army committing human-rights abuses, such as
gang rape, arson and extrajudicial killing.
American
photojournalist Allison Joyce spent some time at refugee camps in Cox's Bazar,
Bangladesh. IBTimes UK shares her sensitive portraits of Rohingya women, along
with their harrowing stories of being raped by the Burmese military, to help
bring the plight of these oppressed people to a wider audience.
Nojiba came to
Bangladesh two months ago from Delpara village in Myanmar. She describes a
happy life living in Myanmar until three months ago when the military suddenly
started coming to her village, beating, killing and harassing people. "I
felt scared, I prayed and read the Koran, hoping to feel better. I lived in a
constant state of fear." Nojiba says. "The day before I fled to
Bangladesh the military came again to our village. They found the place in the
bush where I was hiding with other women and girls. They took the young girls
into nearby houses and beat and raped them. I could hear their screams. One
soldier put a gun to my head and said 'Let's go'. I started screaming and fighting
back and three men dragged me to a room in a nearby house. They held a gun to
my head and two soldiers took turns raping me for an hour."
The next day she and
her family decided it was time to flee to Bangladesh. They had to walk all day
to the Naf river that separates Myanmar from Bangladesh. "My whole body
hurt. I thought that I couldn't keep walking, I felt weak." They paid a
boatman to help them cross the river and they finally made it to Kutapalong
refugee camp in Bangladesh. "We don't have enough to eat here, but at
least we can sleep well and it's safe enough that my children can leave the
house." She has been getting mental health counselling from Doctors
Without Border and says that "I want to move past my sorrows."
Fareza, 17, came to
Bangladesh from Shilkhali village in Myanmar. She describes a happy life in
Myanmar until four months ago when the military began attacking and harassing
people in her village. She says a group of soldiers attacked her home on 16
January and dragged her and her family out into the front yard and beat them
with their fists and the butt of their guns.
Fareza says they
groped her everywhere and dragged her back into her house where one soldier
raped her until she lost consciousness. She woke up bleeding and decided to
flee to Bangladesh, where she made her way to Balu Kali refugee camp. She is
six months pregnant and has not been able to make contact with her husband back
in Myanmar. "For four months back in Myanmar I lived in a constant state
of fear. At least here in Bangladesh I can sleep peacefully."
Jamalida Begum came
to Bangladesh 15 days ago from Hadgudgapara village in Myanmar. Two months ago
the military came to her village, killed her husband and burned her home to the
ground with everything she owned in it. The next morning the military
surrounded her village. "They dragged me and the other women to the yard
and beat us. I was screaming and begging Allah to save me. The military
screamed "Where is your Allah now? He's not saving you!"
Three men dragged
Jamalida to the bush, pointed a gun at her and said 'If you resist, I'll shoot
you' then took turns raping her until she lost consciousness. A few weeks after
the rape, a group of foreign journalists came to her village and interviewed
Jamalida and other rape victims. That night the military came to her village
and cut the throat of the man who helped translate for the journalists. The
soldiers went door to door with Jamalida's photo looking for her, and
neighbours ran to warn her. She ran away and for five days she took shelter in
the bush and in different houses until she fled to Bangladesh. She says that
every night she has nightmares about the Myanmar military. "I have
flashbacks when I hear loud noises. I've heard that the military has made big posters
of my photo and they're still going door to door looking for me. I'll never be
able to go back. If I go back, they'll kill me. I will never go back. Sometimes
I'm scared that they'll find me here."
Another woman named
Jamalida, who is 16 years old, came to Bangladesh a month ago from Shilkhali
village in Myanmar. She says that on the first Friday in December the military
moved into her village and started occupying the mosque and beating or killing
whoever came in. "One day they attacked our home. I wasn't able to flee in
time and they caught me and tied my hands and legs with rope. They tore off my
clothes and punched me everywhere with their fists and with the butt of their
guns. For three hours, four soldiers took turns raping me until I lost consciousness."
When she woke up she
went to the Naf river, which separates Myanmar from Bangladesh, and a boatman
took her across, where she made her way to Kutalapong refugee camp. "I
never had peace in Burma and this last incident was horrible. Here, I feel
peace. I can sleep well here, I can go outside safely. In Burma, I couldn't go
outside and I wasn't safe in my home. We don't have enough food here, but at
least we have peace." she says "Every night when I sleep I have
nightmares and I relive the rape again."
Nurjahan is from
Nerebil village in Myanmar. She says her life in the village was happy until
two months ago when the military attacked her village. Five soldiers came to
her house and tied her eyes with a scarf. Two soldiers took turns raping her in
front of her daughter. After 15 minutes she lost consciousness, and when she
woke up they were gone and her young daughter was crying beside her. A few days
later her husband was killed by the military, and she got word that the
military had murdered a man who worked as a translator for foreign journalists
interviewing rape survivors, and that they were looking for one of the
survivors who dared to speak on camera. She decided it was time to flee to
Bangladesh. She hid in another village for 3 days until she made her way to the
Naf river which separates Myanmar from Bangladesh, and paid a boat to take her
across, where she made her way to Kutalapalong refugee camp.
"I lived in
Burma for 31 years but I never saw this sort of thing before. The past three
months things have become horrible. I still talk to my family in Myanmar all
the time. They told me that the military came again today and set my uncle's
beard on fire." she says "When I close my eyes at night to go to
sleep I become terrified that the military will come again. I haven't slept
well since I came here."
Yasmin escaped from
her home in the Naine Chong Village in Myanmar after the military attacked her
village. The broke into her home, took her husband away, and then four soldiers
took turns raping her. She escaped and hid in the hills for seven days before
she was able to escape to Bangladesh. She had to pay 30,000 Myanmar Kyat (about
$22) to a boatman smuggler to take her across the Naf river into Bangladesh.
She still hasn't heard from her husband and has no idea if he is alive or dead.
Two months ago
Nurkalima escaped from her village, the Burgogi village, in Myanmar after the
military attacked. Some of her neighbours were shot and killed. Her mother and
father weren't fast enough to escape but they are waiting for an opportunity to
join her in Bangladesh.
The Rohingya, a
mostly stateless Muslim group numbering about 1.1 million, are the majority in
Rakhine state and smaller communities in Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia. The
stateless Muslim group are routinely described by human rights organisations as
the "most oppressed people in the world" and a "minority that
continues to face statelessness and persecution."
Myanmar's
government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, denies the
accusations and insists a lawful counter-insurgency operation is underway. The
violence in border regions has raised questions about her commitment to human
rights and ability to rein in the military, which retains a major political
role.