Refugee on the shore

The Rohingya are one of the world’s most persecuted ethnic communities. For decades, they have been systematically deprived of their fundamental human rights in Myanmar. Isolated from the global community, they have endured repeated brutal military operations by the Myanmar government without justification, effectively rendering them strangers in their own homeland.

On August 25, 2017, the Myanmar military launched a devastating offensive, setting fire to Rohingya villages. Thousands of Rohingya were burned alive, shot, killed, or beheaded. In a desperate flight for survival, hundreds of thousands fled across the Naf River by boat to the Bangladesh border. Within two months, the number of Rohingya refugees had swelled to approximately six hundred thousand.

Most refugees landed on Shah Porir Dwip, an island in the Naf River near Teknaf Upazila, which became a primary entry point into Bangladesh. After arriving with their few salvaged belongings—household items, domestic animals, solar panels, and clothing—many spent their first night there before receiving permission from the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) to move to official refugee camps.

I encountered them exhausted, traumatized, and ill. When I attempted to speak with them, few were interested; most were fearful. I asked to take their photographs, documenting their immediate aftermath of arrival. The shore of the Naf River at Shah Porir Dwip stands as a permanent witness to this tragic exodus and a crucial route to safety for the Rohingya people.