Rohingya Refugees: Vulnerable on the sea, not much better on land!

You probably have been reading about them these past few days or watching them on TV - the Rohingya refugees of Myanmar who were chased out of their homeland and now floating around the ocean on boats with no food, no water and nowhere to go. Hundreds of them have already died already while death stares at hundreds of others.

Truth is, hunger and misery are also constant companions of even those Rohingyas who live on the land. I met some of them in Hyderabad city of India. Sharing here some of the images that, several months later, still haunt me!

The Rohingya refugees arrived in India from Bangladesh. For some, it has been a few weeks, while some have been here since 2012. Each one of them has a horrific story to share: beaten, tortured, forced to leave home, watching their near ones being murdered and their homes being burned down.

Beyond the story: Rohingya refugees in India

A few weeks back, a social worker friend asked me, 'are you aware of the Rohingya refugees in Hyderabad?' I wasn't, of course. Hyderabad is about 3,400 km away from Burma. And, if anyone was indeed coming from Burma to India,  I would expect them to turn up at places like the north east India or, Andamans or Kolkata or Delhi. But not Hyderabad which is way off the trodden road

Anyway, so once morning I went to meet the refugees. And here is the story that came out as a result of that.

But, sometimes, a community has too many stories to tell and you have too many constraints to take them all in. A video with a 3.30 min cap on it is one what I had. And so, after my video was shot, I went back to meet the refugees again. And again. And here's what I learned.

In Myanmar, women are attacked attacked as mercilessly as men. They are beaten, raped and killed with swords. Most of the attacks happen in the night and often led by the militia. This woman was sleeping when a mob broke open the door of her house. Her husband and son died, while she escaped with a deep wound on the side of her stomach.

Two years later, her wound has healed, but she suffers from trauma.