By Mumtaz Moosa Saley
07:06:2022

More than a million people fled to Bangladesh after the Myanmar army launched a genocide attack called the “clearance operation” in August 2017. The soldiers torched homes, killed and raped the Rohingya people. The UN had labelled this a crime against humanity, and others have called this a genocide. 

Many children had witnessed the unimaginable violence and destruction before fleeing to Bangladesh. Unfortunately, they are denied the opportunity to attend school. The children distinguish between Buddhist and Rohingya and take a page out of South Africa’s Apartheid playbook in what has caused one of history’s biggest displacements and many refugees. 

The Rohingya were relocated to Cox Bazaar, the biggest refugee camp in the world. In December 2021, the authorities in Bangladesh shut down all forms of schooling and madrassas, making the Rohingya children a lost generation with no hope of a future. 

Without education, Rohingya children face the grim reality as they are left without hope of a brighter future.

Our collective duty is to raise our voices and demand that schools and madrassas be opened to the children living in the largest refugee camp in the world.