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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Kaamil Ahmed in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh

‘I can’t speak but my photos do’: how a mute Rohingya boy talks to the world

A smiling teenage boy gestures at his face. Shacks of bamboo and plastic sheeting can be seen behind him
With no chance to learn formal sign language, Asom Khan, who is deaf and mute, uses his own version to communicate with friends and family in Bangladesh. Photograph: Kaamil Ahmed

His own sign language of sweeping, dramatised gestures is rarely fully understood by those outside Asom Khan’s closest friends and family but the 15-year-old is able to speak through his art and photography.

From his shelter in the Rohingya refugee camps of south-east Bangladesh, Khan takes photos to share the stories of his community – of his elderly neighbours, disabled people, and of women at work and in times of crisis.

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