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Driven From Home: Portraits Of 5 Rohingya Women Living In Refugee Camps

Oxfam Canada workers share the stories of families they met in south Bangladesh, where more than 620,000 Rohingya have fled over the past three months

Rohingya woman in refugee camp

Since late August, more than 620,000 Rohingya have fled their homes in Myanmar for refugee camps in Bangladesh, in order to escape violence at the hands of the country's security forces (the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has called it a campaign of ethnic cleansing). The Rohingya are a minority Muslim group rooted in Myanmar's Rakhine state who have been denied citizenship since 1982, and have faced persecution since the 1970s.

In early November, two Oxfam Canada workers visited the Unchiprang and Balukhali camps in south Bangladesh so as to see first-hand how the refugees are faring, and how Oxfam is responding to their needs. "It’s hard to perceive the scale of the crisis until you get there," says Brittany Lambert, women’s rights policy specialist with the organization. "Even if you know the statistics, when you get there and you see all the people, everything is so crowded, and the shelters go as far as the eye can see." Lambert and her colleague Kate Higgins, director of policy and campaigns at Oxfam Canada, talked to several families in the two camps. Below are portraits of five of the women they met, along with parts of their stories.

Rohingya refugees

Arefa, 45

Arefa and her six children, who are between the ages of four and 19, have been living in Unchiprang refugee camp for about one month. Arefa’s husband is not with them; he had to travel to a larger camp, so as to receive medical attention. It took the family a week to arrive at Unchiprang, a journey of constant rain and struggling through deep mud. The boat that took them across the Naf river, which borders Myanmar and Bangladesh, was packed with people, and one woman fell off. Because families only receive one food token at the camp, Arefa’s family is often hungry. Her daughter and son-in-law, who live in Balukhali refugee camp, have come to help her while her husband is away. Photo, Salahuddin Ahmed/Oxfam.

Driven From Home: Portraits Of 5 Rohingya Women Living In Refugee Camps

Azara, 40

Azara ives in Unchiprang refugee camp with her husband and four children, who range between six and 15 years old. They fled their home when men in army uniforms raided their village and searched them by ripping off their clothes. Azara’s brother was killed, so her sister-in-law and family fled with them. They arrived in the camp after three days of travel and were among the first refugees there. Azara said she has enough to eat, but has difficulty accessing water, which involves a long walk up a steep hill on treacherous terrain. She has fallen many times while trying to navigate the narrow and muddy footpaths in the camp. Photo, Salahuddin Ahmed/Oxfam.

Driven From Home: Portraits Of 5 Rohingya Women Living In Refugee Camps

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Noor, 26

Noor has four children and is pregnant with her fifth. Her family walked for several days through the rain to arrive at Unchiprang, her husband carrying their belongings while she carried their two youngest children, ages three and one, most of the way. She and her children have all been sick since they arrived, but Noor said that they feel safe in the camp. Her seven-year old daughter is the one who encouraged Noor and her husband to leave for Bangladesh, because she feared they would be killed if they stayed. Photo, Salahuddin Ahmed/Oxfam.

Driven From Home: Portraits Of 5 Rohingya Women Living In Refugee Camps

Rajuma, 48

Rajuma arrived in Balukhali refugee camp after walking for 17 days. She travelled there with her daughter, who is a mother herself and heavily pregnant. They were unable to get a boat to cross over to Bangladesh, so they had to build a raft out of branches and leave all their belongings behind. In Balukhali, Rajuma was staying in a makeshift shelter on the very edge of the camp, near a latrine. She was was suffering from severe diarrhea, which she thinks she probably got sick by drinking dirty water from a hole in the ground. She had no idea where or how to find medical help. Photo, Salahuddin Ahmed/Oxfam.

Rohingya woman in refugee camp

Yasmine, 60

Yasmine lives with her son, his wife, and her two grandchildren. They travelled to Unchiprang by foot, staying in abandoned homes along the way. Yasmine has health problems and needs stomach surgery. She travelled to the town of Cox’s Bazar to see a doctor and was told that the procedure would cost 20,000 Bangladeshi taka (about $310 CAD), an expense she cannot afford, so she returned to the camp and lives with chronic pain, despite the painkillers she receives from Médecins Sans Frontières. She hopes to return to Myanmar someday to recover her property and belongings. If others go back, she will follow. Photo, Salahuddin Ahmed/Oxfam.

Driven From Home: Portraits Of 5 Rohingya Women Living In Refugee Camps

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