I Feel No Peace: Rohingya Fleeing Over Seas and Rivers

by Kaamil Ahmed

Rohingya men, women and children have been fleeing their homes for forty years. The tipping point came in August 2017, when almost 700,000 were wrung from Myanmar in a single military operation. Today, very few members of this Muslim minority remain in the country. Instead, they live mostly in Bangladesh's refugee camps; or precariously in Malaysia, India, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.

With the Rohingya almost entirely in exile, I Feel No Peace is the first book-length exploration of their lives abroad, drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews and long-standing relationships within the diaspora. Kaamil Ahmed speaks to the families of snatched children, and people kidnapped to feed the human trafficking nourished by Rohingya suffering. Most disturbingly, he reveals the complicity of NGOs and the UN in the refugees' plight.

But Ahmed also uncovers resilience and hope; stories of how a scattered community survives. The lives uncovered in I Feel No Peace are complex, heart-breaking and unforgettable.

Genres: Nonfiction, Asia, History, Refugee, Politics

272 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2023

Reviews

[Chad Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely horrific lives some people live, truly. Great for illuminating the struggles of the Rohingya people. Big up Gambia though for doing something about it

[hajera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahmed gives a in depth understanding of the history of the Rohingya and their troubles going as far back as the 1970s. He is able to link the complicated history of the people with personal and current stories from those who are living in the settlement camps for the past three decades. You are given an understanding of their tragedy that seems to be a repeated cycle of violence and torment at the hands of every government they encounter.

[Sadhia Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing is beautiful. I wasn’t able to finish this book, not because it was boring, it was too heart breaking. It really is a forgotten group of persecuted people who have been subjected to disgusting acts. The author truly does justice to recount the stories of others. Majestically written.

[Isabella Wordsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author does a spectacular job of highlighting the strength and perseverance of the people without invalidating the horrors they have endured.

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Hundreds of people spread over hundreds of metres, stumbling towards the muddy embankment, exactly where they wanted them. There the attackers launched another hail of gunfire, thinning out the trapped crowd then purposely lodging bullets in the rest, individually, and swinging machetes at their limbs. Others were carried off by the water, some of them still thrashing away and others lifeless, shot in the back as they swam. The attackers dug pits by the riverbank and filled them with the dead as well as some who were still breathing, bleeding out from severed limbs. They piled bamboo branches and dried paddy crops on top and a helicopter poured gasoline from the sky. Then they set the pit on fire. No one has been allowed to visit Tula Toli since.”

“Momtaz watched the soldiers slashing at Rohingya with such fury and frequency that their long knifes became blunt. They wrestled her two youngest sons from her and threw them in the water. Others described the same, while some saw their babies chucked directly into the fire. Her last son, the eldest, was bludgeoned around the head, then hacked and burned there on the riverbank where they were digging the pits.”

“When the killing was over, they marched the remaining women to the now empty homes in the village, and, “they dragged me home and rapped me there,” said Momatz.”

“Myanmar does not allow visitors but satellites can still see the ghost towns and the graves.”

The Russian and the Chinese supported the junta and the killings, both directly (with weapons) and indirectly (with sympathy) and these days some people are applauding them for going to Myanmar with rescue teams and dogs.

The title, I feel no peace, relates to the feelings the Rohingya have due to their displacement, a bit like how I feel having survived Cancer.

[Lara Celine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I Feel No Peace by Kaamil Ahmed is a heart-breaking book. The book focuses on the Rohingya refugee crisis, especially people forced to flee Myanmar in 2017 and seek safety in places like Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand and beyond.

One of the strongest aspects of the book is the way it shares individual stories combined with history and (current) politics. We hear about real people - families escaping violence, parents losing children during dangerous journeys, and individuals risking their lives on boats in search of safety. This enables you to see beyond the numbers and headlines.
I learnt many things: The record of Rohingya‘s presence is older than the British empire; the Rohingya language is a mixture of Bengali, Arabic, Urdu, Persian and Arakanese; the continues misconduct and uselessness of the UN; that Gambia had announced it was taking Myanmar to the UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), for genocide, and so much more.

However, there were aspects I didn’t fully enjoy. One thing I found frustrating was the lack of maps. Since the book involves a lot of movement across countries and regions, having maps would have made it much easier to follow the journeys and understand where everything was happening. As I‘m not very familiar with the region, constantly looking up places really took me out of the reading flow.
Another issue was the structure, especially at the beginning. The timeline jumps back and forth quite a bit, which made it confusing at times. Just as I started to follow one person’s story or a specific moment, the narrative would shift to a different time or perspective. This disrupted the flow and made it harder to stay fully engaged early on.

The book is very impactful and important because it raises awareness about a crisis that many people don’t know (much) about.
It is a comprehensive work, combining journalism with personal storytelling, and will allow you to see the Rohingya refugee crisis in the political and historical context while at the same time showing you the human side of it - the devastation and humiliation but also hope.
Despite some structural issues, the personal stories make it memorable and meaningful, showing not just suffering but also resilience and the ongoing search for a home.

[Michael Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tells the story of the Rohingya people and how the fled persecution to refugee camps in Bangladesh but how even there they are not really safe or at peace. I learned a lot from this book and how Burma’s government target the Rohingya and how the Bangladesh government does everything to try to push refugees back to hostile environments in Burma. Really puts the meaning to having no safe homeland to live in and the struggles of never being able to be seen as a citizen. The author does a good job incorporating how racism, global politics, and smuggling networks contribute to the groups overall struggles through first person accounts. Also interesting perspective on the role of Covid with a refugee crisis.

[Kuldeep Sagar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading I Feel No Peace by Kaamil Ahmed was a deeply moving experience. During my work with the Rohingya Refugees in Cox’s Bazar, I witnessed firsthand the quiet resilience, hope, and humanity of these communities, faces and stories that lingered with me long after. Ahmed’s book captures the same courage and endurance, bringing to life the struggles of displacement and the fight for dignity. It is a compelling and timely reflection on exile and survival, and a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the human cost of displacement.

Read my full review here:https://kuldeepsagar.com/en/echoes-of...