In 1991 and 1992, military operations against the Rohingya in Rakhine province of Myanmar were given pristine Buddhist names, such as Operation Pyi Thaya, meaning Clean and Beautiful Nation. It drove out over 200,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh, an exodus which escalated in 2017. In Habiburahman’s book, First, They Erased our Name: A Rohingya Speaks, co-authored by Sophie Ansel, he writes that as a 15-year-old, he often wondered if he would ever reach adulthood or if he would be murdered first. With so many young Rohingya men disappearing, Habib tried not to think about it.
From Rakhine to Nagorno-Karabakh
Bangladesh gave shelter to 1.1 million Rohingya, but during her recent visit to India, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the refugees were a “big burden” on her country, and that she was talking to international organisations like the United Nations to ensure their return to Myanmar. That is easier said than done because the Tatmadaw, or the Burmese armed forces, do not recognise the Rohingya and they had to flee the land for that reason in the first place. What do maps and lines mean for people who are forced to flee, or live in exile, and for whom a land to call their own doesn’t exist?
