How can we find the proper words for something that is not possible to put in words?

A young Rohingya is watching motionless into the ashes, photo credit Mohammed Iddris


Another inferno that burned down everything in seconds, photo credit Sirajul Islam

A Rohingya man is trying the impossible by pouring water into the gigantic flames, video by Zia Hero Naing

The devastating news of another all destructing fire that broke out in the early morning of March 08, 2022 in the Balukhali camp 5 leaves us again paralyzed, shocked and speechless.

A Rohingya man is standing on a roof capturing the fire with his mobile, photo credit Mohammed Iddris

A  stressed Rohingya carrying a bucket, in a hurry to get off a roof, photo credit Mohammed Iddris

Since the gigantic fire blaze from March 23 last year which destroyed large areas of the Balukhali camps and which left thousands Rohingya shelterless, there are ongoing fire incidents happening every month now. These fires simply don’t get under control and the vulnerable Rohingya community once again does not get peace. No one knows where these fires come from, why they are happening so often now and who is initiating them. These fires are leaving so many questions and create fear and insecurity among the many Rohingya refugees who are stuck there and forced to live with this increasing danger.

Another big fire holding thousands of Rohingya in suspense, March 08, 2022, photo credit Zia Hero Naing

Looks unreal, and yet the brutal reality, photo credit Sirajul Islam

Already last year and also many times before that I was asking myself again and again: Why am I the fortunate one who was born on the “right” side of this planet where there is justice and jurisdiction? Why am I the lucky one who can live in peace and freedom and why millions of others can’t?

I keep saying to myself: I could be the Rohingya mother who is still trying, despite all hardship and difficulties,  to create a somehow cosy home for my children in a tarpaulin shelter.

I could be the Rohingya mother who had lost her baby by the force of soldiers who had taken it from me and thrown it in front of my eyes into the fires of my burning home.

I could be the Rohingya woman who was gang raped and who had barely survived this.

Disbelief, shock, total sadness and pure despair in the face of this woman, photo credit Mohammed Hossain

I could be the Rohingya woman who had lost her father, husband and brothers who had gotten their throats slit open in front of my eyes and who had gotten massacred like so many thousands of my people.

I could be the Rohingya mother who had to witness how six soldiers were gang raping my daughter and afterwards killing her.

I could be the Rohingya mother who would sit there in this refugee camp not knowing how to get proper food on the table.

I could be the Rohingya woman who would have to pack just the essentials and to leave my home in a rush into nowhere together with my children.

A Rohingya fire survivor from the Balukhali camp 5, March 08, 2022, photo credit Mohammed Hossain

I could be the Rohingya woman who had seen the worst possible cruelties committed on my friends, family and neighbours and who is forced to go on every single day, despite this incomprehensible trauma.

I could be the Rohingya sister who is helping my mother by dragging uncountable gallons of fresh water over long distances every day back to our shelter.

I could be the Rohingya sister who has to take care of her siblings despite of my own wishes and desires that have no place in a refugee camp.

I could be the Rohingya woman sitting together with my children in the ashes of my burnt down shelter.

The morning after the fire. Where to go from here??? Photo credit Mohammed Hossain

One of the many shelterless families after the all destroying fire in Balukhali camp 5, March 08, 2022, photo credit Mohammed Hossain

I could be the Rohingya mother who is trying desperately to find her lost children in the chaos of these flames.

Reunification help desk, photo credit Mohammed Hossain

Rohingya youth helping to rebuild new shelters after the Balukhali camp 5 fire, March 08, 2022, photo credit Mohammed Hossain

I could be all of these Rohingya women. I could be a Rohingya refugee sitting there and screaming for answers. I could be asking myself every day: Why is this happening to us? Why is this happening to me? What have I done wrong to deserve this misery? Where and how can I find hope? For how much longer am I forced to survive in this living hell?

In the end, not knowing anymore how to cope with all this injustice and tragedy, all I can come up with to say is: I AM A ROHINGYA.