Reliving the Rohingya nightmare again and again

LANGKAWI: Translating accounts of the plight of fellow Rohingya migrants into Bahasa Malaysia, refugee Ali Johar relives their nightmare over and over again.

Ever since he fled to Malaysia by boat in 1997 to escape persecution in his hometown Sittwe of Rakhine State, Myanmar, the 34-year-old has been living in Kedawang, Langkawi, where he regularly serves as an unofficial translator for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Speaking in fluent Bahasa Malaysia, Ali said relaying the ordeal of his fellow migrants who spoke their native Rohingya to the authorities did not get easier with time.

“Of course I feel their pain. They are my people.

“When I call home, my family tells me that my village has been set ablaze by the Rakhine Buddhists. They are the ones hurting us,” said Ali, who has not seen his family since leaving Rakhine 18 years ago.

Ali, who was a translator for the Rohingya migrants offloaded in Langkawi last week, said the sight of their weak and starving bodies was heartbreaking.

Haunted by memories: Fasiel witnessed his village being burnt down last year.

“There were three-year-old children, some younger, aboard the vessel.

“Just looking at them makes me sad. We can’t do anything,” he said.

Ali keeps a record of Rohingyas living on the island, who are all UNHCR cardholders.

He keeps himself updated with the affairs of his hometown via social media like Facebook.

When met at his house yesterday, he showed The Star a video of a Rohingya migrant being stabbed to death by several men.

“I see videos of my people being killed and my tears can’t stop flowing,” he sighed.

On Sunday, Ali introduced The Star to a 12-year-old Rohingya boy who left Rakhine on his own.

Fasiel Mustafa Kamal was reunited with his father and two brothers in Langkawi after a tumultuous boat ride to Malaysia last year.

“He saw his village burning. He fled because people were burning too,” said Ali.

For Kamal Shafie, 30, no amount of money can compensate for being stateless.

“I am not a citizen of any country,” said the teacher when met at the Baitul Rahmah Rohingya Learning Centre at Taman Sejahtera in Sungai Petani.

Kamal, who also speaks Arabic, Urdu, Hindi and Bahasa Malaysia, does not foresee a bright future for himself.

“Anywhere is a prison if you do not have legal status,” said the Rohingya who had taken a boat to Thailand and continued on foot to Malaysia five years ago.

Kamal said he was luckier than his friends who had fled Myanmar.

“We have nothing. We are called a pelarian (refugee). People look down on us, and insult us,” he said.