A number of Rohingya youths in Bangladeshi camps find photography a medium to protect their life, culture, tradition and struggle as well as reach out to global audiences.

Speaking to New Age over the phone, young photographers said that they wanted to mobilise opinion globally with their photographs and short videos for a sustainable repatriation to Myanmar from where they were forcibly displaced at different times, largely in 2017.

Sahat Zia Hero, the founder of Rohingyatographer Magazine, trained youths in Rohingya camps to help them to learn photography and often held workshops for those who showed their interest in photography.

‘Our main objective is to highlight our life, our community, lifestyle, our happiness, dream and hope and our challenges globally,’ he said, adding, ‘We seek similar attention from the world as they pay it to other refugees.’

ALSO READ THIS: DHAKA SEEKS ASEAN’S ACTIVE ROLE IN ROHINGYA REPATRIATION

‘We do not want to be a forgotten community. Sometimes, we feel the international communities are forgetting us,’ he added.

He hoped that their photography would help them to raise awareness and mobilise opinion internationally for their ‘sustainable’ repatriation.

Like him, Mohammed Zonaid, senior executive member of Ukhia-based Omar’s Film School, said that they had come to Bangladesh about six years ago, but their issue now had almost been forgotten in the public discourse and even in the international discussion.

‘Funds have been cut, and we may face a lot of problems in days to come,’ he said.

He also said that he tried to project the struggle of his community people, and what are the challenges the Rohingya people overcoming every day.

‘So, we want to highlight our stories…We want to tell our stories in our ways…We are getting a positive response so far,’ he said.

Read more…