March 17, 2025

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Announcement of New Website: Rohingya Today (RohingyaToday.Com) Dear Readers, From 1st January 2019 onward, the Rohingya News Portal 'Rohingya Blogger' will be renamed and upgraded as 'Rohingya Today'. Due to this transition to a new name, our website will be available at www.rohing...

Rohingya News @ Int'l Media

Maung Zarni, leader of the Free Rohingya Coalition, speaks at a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Thursday. | CHISATO TANAKA By Chisato Tanaka, Published by The Japan Times on October 25, 2018 A leader of a global network of activists for Rohingya Mu...

Myanmar News

By Sena Güler | Published by Anadolu Agency on December 1, 2018 Maung Zarni says he will boycott Beijing-sponsored events until the country reverses its 'troubling path' ANKARA -- A human rights activist and intellectual said he withdrew from a Beijing-sponsored forum in London to pro...

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Article @ RB

Oskar Butcher RB Article October 6, 2018 Every night in an unassuming shop space located in Mandalay’s 39thStreet, Lu Maw and Lu Zaw – the remaining members of the Burma’s most famous comedy trio, the Moustache Brothers – present their show: a curious combination of comedy, political sa...

Article @ Int'l Media

A demonstration over identity cards at a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh in April, 2018. Image: NurPhoto/SIPA USA/PA Images. By Natalie Brinham | Published by Open Democracy on October 21, 2018 Wary of the past, Rohingya have frustrated the UN’s attempts to provide them with documenta...

Analysis @ RB

By M.S. Anwar | Opinion & Analysis The Burmese (Myanmar) quasi-civilian government unleashed a large-scale violence against the minority Rohingya in the western Myanmar state of Arakan in 2012. The violence, which some wrongly frame as ‘Communal’, was carried out by the Burmese armed forces...

Analysis @ Int'l Media

By Maung Zarni, Natalie Brinham | Published by Middle East Institute on November 20, 2018 “It is an ongoing genocide (in Myanmar),” said Mr. Marzuki Darusman, the head of the UN Human Rights Council-mandated Independent International Fact-Finding Mission at the official briefing at ...

Opinion @ RB

Rohingya refugees who fled from Myanmar wait to be let through by Bangladeshi border guards after crossing the border in Palang Khali, Bangladesh October 9, 2017. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj MS Anwar RB Opinion November 12, 2018 Some may differ. But I believe the government of Bangladesh is ...

Opinion @ Int'l Media

By Maung Zarni | Published by Anadolu Agency on December 15, 2018 US will not intercede, and Myanmar's neighbors see it through economic lens, so international coalition for Rohingya needed LONDON -- The U.S. House of Representatives Thursday overwhelmingly passed a resolution ca...

History @ RB

Aman Ullah  RB History August 25, 2016 The ethnic Rohingya is one of the many nationalities of the union of Burma. And they are one of the two major communities of Arakan; the other is Rakhine and Buddhist. The Muslims (Rohingyas) and Buddhists (Rakhines) peacefully co-existed in the A...

Rohingya History by Scholars

Dr. Maung Zarni's Remark: The best research on Rohingya history: British Orientalism which created the pseudo-scientific biological notion of "Taiyinthar" or "real natives" of #Myanmar caused that country's post-colonial cancer of official & popular genocidal Racism.  This co...

Report @ RB

(Photo: Soe Zeya Tun, Reuters) RB News  October 5, 2013  Thandwe, Arakan – Rakhinese mob in Thandwe started attacking Kaman Muslims on September 28, 2013. As a result, 5 Kaman Muslims were mercilessly killed and 1 was died in heart attack while escaping the attack. 781 Kaman Mus...

Report by Media/Org

Rohingya families arrive at a UNHCR transit centre near the village of Anjuman Para, Cox’s Bazar, south-east Bangladesh after spending four days stranded at the Myanmar border with some 6,800 refugees. (Photo: UNHCR/Roger Arnold) By UN News May 11, 2018 Late last year, as violent repressi...

Press Release

(Photo: Reuters) Joint Statement: Rohingya Groups Call on U.S. Government to Ensure International Accountability for Myanmar Military-Planned Genocide December 17, 2018  We, the undersigned Rohingya organizations worldwide, call for accountability for genocide and crimes against...

Rohingya Orgs Activities

RB News December 6, 2017 Tokyo, Japan -- Legislators from all parties, along with Human Rights Now, Human Rights Watch, and Save the Children, came together to host the emergency parliament in-house event “The Rohingya Human Rights Crisis and Japanese Diplomacy” on December 4th. The eve...

Petition

By Wyston Lawrence RB Petition October 15, 2017 There is one petition has been going on Change.org to remove Ven. Wira Thu from Facebook. He has been known as Buddhist Bin Laden. Time magazine published his image on their cover with the title of The Face of Buddhist Terror. The petitio...

Campaign

A human rights activist and genocide scholar from Burma Dr. Maung Zarni visits Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi Extermination Camp and calls on European governments - Britain, France, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Denmark, Hungary and Germany not to collaborate with the Evil - like they did with Hitler 75 ye...

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Editorial by Int'l Media

By Dhaka Tribune Editorial November 5, 2017 How can we answer to our conscience knowing full-well what the Myanmar military is doing to the innocent Rohingya minority -- not even sparing children or pregnant women? Despite the on-going humanitarian crisis involving Rohingya refugees ...

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Informal education prepares Rohingya children for resettlement

Rohingya children attending a language class at a learning centre in Kuala Lumpur. — TRP file pic by Mokhsin Zamani

January 2, 2016

NUR Kaidah Nur Alam’s ambition is to open a bakery and when asked why, the 13-year-old replied in all innocence: “Because I love to eat chocolate cake.”

Nur Kaidah, whose parents are Rohingya refugees — who had fled Myanmar with their family to escape the persecution — said she has been dreaming of having her own bakery ever since she tasted a piece of chocolate cake given to her by a friend.

“I know I have to do well in school first, then learn to make cakes and open a shop. Then, I can eat all the cake I want and earn some money for my family,” said the bright-eyed teen, who was born in Malaysia.

Nur Kaidah is a student at the Muslim Aid Knowledge Centre (PIMA), a school specially set up for Rohingya children in Kampung Ampang Tambahan in Ampang, Selangor, and run by the Muslim Aid Malaysia Humanitarian Foundation.

Nur Kaidah, who has 9 other siblings aged between 3 and 24, used to live in Terengganu before her family moved to Kuala Lumpur in search of a better life and education for the children.

Long Journey

Her classmate Amin Sharif Hasan Sharif, 12, is a big fan of Malaysian astronaut Datuk Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor and intends to follow in his footsteps.

“I will study hard so that I too can become a national astronaut,” said the youngster, who considers himself a Malaysian.

Amin Sharif, who has been a student at PIMA for the past two years, is aware that his family may eventually be placed in a third country but said if he had his way, he would prefer to remain here.

Relating how he ended up in Malaysia, the boy said 4 years ago, his mother took him and his two younger siblings on an arduous long journey across Myanmar, Bangladesh, India and Thailand to Malaysia so that they could join his father, who had been working in this country for some years.

Amin Sharif said his father was helping a relative with his electrical wiring business while his mother was jobless.

Importance of Education

An estimated 33,710 refugee children aged below 18 are currently registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia.

Considering that education is the key to equipping these children with the knowledge and skills they would need to free themselves from the clutches of poverty, do they have access to educational opportunities in Malaysia?

They don’t have access to formal education but they can still get a decent informal education at special “schools” set up for them by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), religious organisations and other interested parties.

According to UNHCR spokesperson Yante Ismail, there are 126 community learning centres for refugee children, including 31 specifically for young Rohingyas.

She said 29% of refugee children in Malaysia have access to these learning centres, which provide pre-school, primary and secondary education.

Eleven of the learning centres are run by NGOs while the rest are operated by religious and other groups.

Besides extending financial grants to the community learning centres, UNHCR also helps to train volunteers and teachers and foot the children’s transportation and food bills, as well as provide stationery and teaching aids.

Yante said the students, aged between four and 17, were taught four main subjects, namely English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mathematics and Science.

However, as she pointed out, there was limited scope for them to learn and accomplish more due to the shortage of resources, including qualified teachers.

The classes are conducted at rented premises in flats or shop houses, which are usually overcrowded and lack basic learning facilities.

Limited Opportunities

Despite the limited resources, the children still get a chance to learn to read, write and count at the various learning centres, said Yante.

To enable them to function normally in any society they are thrust into, they are also taught social skills and to embrace values like cooperation, tolerance and acceptance.

“However, opportunities for the refugee children to further their education remain challenging. UNHCR and the various NGOs are always seeking opportunities for youths to learn vocational skills to enable them to face a brighter future,” said Yante.

She said the UNHCR has signed memoranda of understanding with the University of Nottingham Malaysia campus, Limkokwing University of Creative Technology and International University Malaya-Wales to enable 42 refugee youths to take up undergraduate programmes at the institutions concerned.

Nuruljannah Oyong, 24, one of the teachers attached to Muslim Aid’s PIMA, meanwhile, said all her students were diligent, hardworking and disciplined.

The Universiti Malaysia Sabah graduate said the Rohingya kids she taught were well aware of the importance of education and their parents too took a keen interest in their progress.

She said PIMA conducted two classes from 8am to noon and another two classes from noon to 3pm. The children, aged between six and 13, are taught Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mathematics, Science, Pengajian Tempatan and other subjects relevant to the Malaysian education syllabus.

“We try to keep them in the ‘school’ environment for as long as we can. Maybe what we are doing is nothing to shout about but it’s very meaningful for the Rohingya community,” Muslim Aid Malaysia Chairman Habsah Marjuni told Bernama.

Being prepared for the future

Although Malaysia only offered the refugees temporary shelter, Habsah was confident that the informal education the children receive would, to a certain extent, enable them to be more prepared for resettlement in a third country.

She said while most of the refugee children came to Malaysia with their families, some of them had ended up in this country as unaccompanied minors after nearly becoming victims of human traffickers.

Besides a registration fee RM5, PIMA did not charge any other fees, Habsah said, adding that its classes were held in a hall rented by Muslim Aid. The organisation also took care of the teachers’ salaries and purchase of stationery, books and apparatus for art and other activities.

When PIMA was opened two years ago, it had 95 students. Twenty-five of them have since been placed in third countries with their families. The centre currently has 85 students, including some who had arrived in the country just a few months ago.

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