On 25 August 2017, some 700,000 Rohingya men, women and children were forced to flee Myanmar and seek protection in Bangladesh, joining those who had fled in previous years.
While doing photo documentation of the Rohingya people, I encountered many stories, with Azizur’s being particularly noteworthy.
I still have that memory in front of my eyes when Amanda and I saw Azizur’s mother’s screams in the hospital, and we couldn’t understand what had happened. We came to know that little Azizur was crossing the Myanmar border when his legs were blown off by a mine. His mother carried 10-year-old son across the Naf River into Bangladesh, hoping that he would receive treatment and survive the journey.
But when Azizur was screaming in severe pain at the hospital, the doctor did his best to alleviate Azizur’s suffering. In front of us, the doctor administered morphine to Azizur, explaining that there was nothing more he could do to help ease the pain.
Hearing Azizur’s painful screams, his mother is praying to Allah, asking for her son to be relieved from the pain he’s experiencing. After leaving the hospital, Amanda and I went back to the hotel as we needed to submit our story in the morning and time was running out.
At night, I received the news that Azizur had passed away and that his funeral would take place at a local relative’s house. I rushed back to the camp in search of Azizur’s relative’s house. I was running out of time, as I had to submit the picture by the end of the night. I felt something happening inside me, as if Azizur’s mother’s wish had been fulfilled.
Photo Caption:
Ten years old Azizur. When crossing the Myanmar border with his family, he stepped on a land-mine and lost both of his legs. Azizur later succumbed to his injuries. People of Thyangkhali carrying his dead across a canal. Such is the fate of Rohingyas today. 14 September, 2017, Teknaf, Bangladesh.
Photo Credit: Parvez Ahmad Rony
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A row of lifeless bodies of Rohingya children