In their eyes

Australian National University

March 26, 2013

A new ANU photographic exhibition is helping people see the world through the eyes of Burma’s persecuted Rohingya, writes OLIVIA CABLE.

Homeless, helpless and forgotten, an unwanted woman clutches her child in her frail arms as she sits forlornly on the road. She is one of many Rohingya, who due to religious and political persecution have had to flee Burma. Unfortunately this image is not so uncommon.

Now, a new photographic exhibition hosted by the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific is bringing Australians face-to-face with the plight of some of Burma’s most persecuted minorities.

The exhibition, Exiled to Nowhere, features the work of award-winning photographer Greg Constantine and forms part of the 2013 Myanmar/Burma Update. The photos focus on the everyday experiences of Rohingya – a Muslim minority from the Rakhine State in Myanmar’s southwest. 

It does not paint a pretty picture.

The black and white images are nothing short of harrowing. Some images show those who have fled, like the group of 20 Rohingya who, exhausted from their journey, are detained as their boat crosses a river from Myanmar to Bangladesh.

Others show the malnourished, gaunt and almost dead, those desperately needing medical attention, and the heart broken – their spirits so shattered that it’s hard to see how tomorrow offers any hope.

Desperate to escape Burma, thousands of Rohingya pay brokers to be smuggled by boat to Malaysia. Another photo shows just what can go wrong, depicting a group of refugees, who after being intercepted by the Thai military, have been pushed back to an uncertain fate with no engine, and little food and water. Their faces are drawn, their eyes are empty.

Photographer Greg Constantine says that the inspiration for the exhibition stems from a project he has been working on since 2005, ‘Nowhere People’, which documents minority groups from around the world who have had their citizenship stripped or denied.

“When I started the project back in 2005, I focused specifically on stateless groups in Asia. The Rohingya are probably one of, if not, the most extreme cases of statelessness in the world today. To me, including the Rohingya in this project was essential,” says Constantine.

“I started my work on the Rohingya in early 2006 and it became immediately apparent to me that this story had many levels to it. It was extremely complex, and amazingly almost no one was exploring or documenting it.

“Because the situation for the Rohingya has changed almost every year since 2006, and not for the better, I felt compelled to keep going back. Since 2006, I’ve been to southern Bangladesh (a site where many Rohingya now live in limbo) eight times. Since the ethnic violence in Rakhine last summer, I’ve been to the Sittwe area in Burma twice.”

Almost resigned to their predicament, Constantine concedes that a lot more needs to be done to open the world’s eyes to the Rohingya’s situation.

“I think my main motivation for continuing this project on the Rohingya has been to do everything I can to chronicle their ongoing plight, and use my work to humanise who they are and the challenges they face.”

Granted few social, economic and civil rights, subjected to forced labor, arbitrary land seizure and religious persecution, over the past 40 years some one million Rohingya have been stripped or denied citizenship by the Burmese government. 

Around 20 Rohingya from the Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia (BRCA) attended this year’s Myanmar/Burma update. Mohammad Anwar, President of the BRCA says the Rohingya face more and more challenges informing the rest of the world about their suffering.

“We came to the conference to tell the truth of Rohingya history in the Rakhine state. The Burmese RNDP (Rakine Nationalities Development Party) General Secretary will try to deceive the international community and scholars with wrong information about Rohingya history.

“We have seen the Burmese Government, Rakhine historians and the RNDP lie for years, as recently done at a conference in Bangkok. We do not want the Australian community to be deceived by the RNDP and Burmese government.”

With mixed emotions, Anwar expresses his appreciation for the effort Constantine has put into the project. 

“On the one hand, we were amazed with the artwork shown at the exhibition. On the other hand, our hearts cry seeing our people suffering in that way. It’s hard to explain our feelings and we are highly appreciative of Greg’s effort to show the Rohingya’s suffering, and their real life in refugee camps.” 

Exiled to Nowhere will be on display in the Hedley Bull Centre at the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific until May 2013.