In the Cox’s Bazar camps, at least one million Rohingya refugees are currently facing a crisis health situation, are unable to gain proper education, and are not allowed to work. Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is partnering with a Rohingya community to bear witness to the challenges, experiences and survival of Rohingya people.
For Ruhul, the increasing separation of his people from their land and home is front of mind, as this Rohingya community mark six years since they were forced out of Rakhine state (Arakan), Myanmar, into the Bangladesh camps by a violent Myanmar military campaign.
In early August, young patients, their families and MSF staff in the MSF Kutupalong hospital gather for the first kyssa storytelling session with the story-panel. A group of small children crowd close to the banyan tree and crows in the front row, as the storyteller, Mohammed Rezuwan Khan, begins.
MSF head of mission in Bangladesh, Arunn Jegan, shares his impressions. “It was so important to see our Rohingya colleagues share their culture and kyssa. Too often Rohingya people are stereotyped as vulnerable—as patients, or as stateless people who do not have the legal right to exist freely in Myanmar, or as refugees.
For Tasman Munro, the partnership created between everyone involved in the project has gone some way to redefining those stereotypes: “Rohingya people have had a lot of stories placed upon them. Co-design creates a process for them to create the stories they want to be defined by.”
Ruhul is certain about this story. “Even though we suffer for five decades, we are still resilient. Even though our land was confiscated, we are still strong enough to survive.”
*Some last names have been withheld for privacy.
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