A boy who can sing: The life of a Rohingya child refugee

Sub-title: 

In the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh, 10-year-old Kassem sings about the suffering of his people.

Description: 

"The sun was burning over Kutupalong camp, the largest refugee settlement in the world. It was midday, so hot that it was hard to breathe. I was looking for a child to sing Rohingya songs for a film I was making about the history of the Rohingya in Myanmar, searching among the endless makeshift huts that seemed to stretch to the horizon. This used to be a forest. But the trees have been cut down to make space for the more than one million Rohingya refugees who live here, many having fled what the UN described as "ethnic cleansing" in Myanmar. Now this former forest, which was once a favourite honeymoon destination for Bangladeshis, is full of people carrying construction materials, food supplies and water; full of tiny huts; full of sorrow and loss. I searched for the child among them, not knowing who that child would be, but sure that I would know when I found them. On my second day in the camp, I came across a large tree with a small makeshift shop beneath it, selling chewing gum, sweets, cigarettes and packets of crisps that have passed their sell-by date. The shopkeeper kept a watchful eye on a group of young boys who were deep in conversation nearby..."

Creator/author: 

Shahida Tulaganova

Source/publisher: 

"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)

Date of Publication: 

2019-11-27

Date of entry: 

2019-11-27

Grouping: 

  • Individual Documents

Category: 

Countries: 

Myanmar, Bangladesh

Administrative areas of Burma/Myanmar: 

Rakhine State

Language: 

English, Rohingya

Resource Type: 

text and video

Text quality: 

    • Good