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First, They Erased Our Name: a Rohingya Speaks
For the first time, a Rohingya speaks up to expose the persecution facing his people.
‘I am three years old and will have to grow up with the hostility of others. I am already an outlaw in my own country, an outlaw in the world. I am three years old, and I don’t yet know that I am stateless.’
Habiburahman was born in 1979 and raised in a small village in western Burma. When he was three years old, the country’s military leader declared that his people, the Rohingya, were not one of the 135 recognised ethnic groups that formed the eight ‘national races’. He was left stateless in his own country.
Since 1982, millions of Rohingya have had to flee their homes as a result of extreme prejudice and persecution. In 2016 and 2017, the government intensified the process of ethnic cleansing, and over 600,000 Rohingya people were forced to cross the border into Bangladesh.
Here, for the first time, a Rohingya speaks up to expose the truth behind this global humanitarian crisis. Through the eyes of a child, we learn about the historic persecution of the Rohingya people and witness the violence Habiburahman endured throughout his life until he escaped the country in 2000.
First, They Erased Our Name is an urgent, moving memoir about what it feels like to be repressed in one’s own country and a refugee in others. It gives voice to the voiceless.
‘I am three years old and will have to grow up with the hostility of others. I am already an outlaw in my own country, an outlaw in the world. I am three years old, and I don’t yet know that I am stateless.’
Habiburahman was born in 1979 and raised in a small village in western Burma. When he was three years old, the country’s military leader declared that his people, the Rohingya, were not one of the 135 recognised ethnic groups that formed the eight ‘national races’. He was left stateless in his own country.
Since 1982, millions of Rohingya have had to flee their homes as a result of extreme prejudice and persecution. In 2016 and 2017, the government intensified the process of ethnic cleansing, and over 600,000 Rohingya people were forced to cross the border into Bangladesh.
Here, for the first time, a Rohingya speaks up to expose the truth behind this global humanitarian crisis. Through the eyes of a child, we learn about the historic persecution of the Rohingya people and witness the violence Habiburahman endured throughout his life until he escaped the country in 2000.
First, They Erased Our Name is an urgent, moving memoir about what it feels like to be repressed in one’s own country and a refugee in others. It gives voice to the voiceless.
256 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2018
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May 19, 2020
Frankly, the issues surrounding the Rohingyas are astonishing and confusing. The social and political repression going on in Myanmar is happening to all of its minority communities, but especially the Rohingyas. Why the Burmese want to kill all those who they believe are non-Buddhists and who recently immigrated to Myanmar (at least what their propaganda would have us believe), or why the Rohingyas in particular out of several dozens of minority communities in Myanmar have become what the Myanmar government believes to be its worst enemy of all its many minority communities, is incomprehensible to me.
Without question a genocide of the Rohingyas has been ordered and carried out by the Myanmar government.
After having listened to the audiobook 'First They Erased our Name' by Habiburahman, who is a Rohingya born in a small village in Western Myanmar, I know now the Rohingyas are being exterminated in a similar progression of how the Jews of Europe in World War II were almost utterly wiped off the face of Europe (and were successfully totally erased from Poland - fact).
The Muslim Rohingyas are perceived by the Burmese Buddhists and Myanmar's military government in exactly the same way as the Nazis perceived Jews. The Nazis gradually passed laws over a period of years and added more and more onerous conditions under which the Jews had to live, until finally the Nazis launched their endgame campaign of total extermination of the Jews. The Burmese have been following the Nazi gamebook of genocide since at least the 1940's against the Rohingyas.
Pogroms of increasing ferocity have been occurring for decades against Rohingya villages. The murderous attacks and oppression led to the formation of small Rohingya terrorist groups. Other minorities (animists, Christians, small ethnic tribes) in Myanmar also formed groups of terrorists who are staging raids on Burmese police and military installations to this day. They all want independence from Myanmar. The Rohingya terrorists hope at minimum to restore to the Rohingyas their inherited lands which have been stolen and sold illegally village by village, territory by territory, to Burmese Buddhists.
I think the Rohingyas are finished as far as being citizens of Myanmar.
The Rohingyas, contrary to Burmese propaganda, have been in the territory of Arakan since the 9th century. Arakan was first settled by a people called Rakhine. Later the Rohingyas arrived. The area was a crossroads for a lot of different ethnicities traveling through, including Arabs. The current tribal majority of Buddhists took charge of Burma after the British, who had formed a country out of the various local tribes, left.
Revenge attacks by some continuously persecuted minorities, who formed small terrorist groups, killed some of the majority tribal Buddhist-populated police and military members stationed on what were ethnic-minority inherited lands. This led to more burning down of Rohingya villages, and more rape, imprisonment and impounding of Rohingya property. Laws were passed stripping the Rohingyas of citizenship and any rights to leave their villages to hunt and travel in nearby forests and farms. They were forbidden education in state schools. These acts of government-sanctioned reprisals impoverished the Rohingyas, reducing their ability to feed themselves and participate in economic activities. Then, another Rohingya terrorist attack in 2015 killed many police and military members. The Final Solution of a Rohingya genocide began, regardless of the innocence of most Rohingyas in having committed any violence against the government.
Habiburahman narrates the story of his life from his birth in a quiet Rohingya village to becoming a refugee as a young adult in 'First They Erased our Name.' He does not have to embellish or lie about the growing hellish life of the Rohingyas and his childhood - it has been documented by brave journalists, NGOs, and many witnesses. If you have read any books about how the Nazis slowly stole away the rights of Jewish citizens by passing laws forbidding them from more and more social, educational and economic activities over several years in the countries of their birth before they began the "The Final Solution", gentle reader, you will see the similarity immediately to what happened in Myanmar for the last forty years in Habiburahman's autobiography.
Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohingy...
"The Rohingya people (/roʊˈɪndʒə, -hɪn-, -ɪŋjə/) are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and speak Bengali language and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). There were an estimated 1 million Rohingya living in Myanmar before the 2016–17 crisis. Described by the United Nations in 2013 as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, the Rohingya population is denied citizenship under the 1982 Myanmar nationality law. They are also restricted from freedom of movement, state education and civil service jobs. The legal conditions faced by the Rohingya in Myanmar have been widely compared to apartheid by many international academics, analysts and political figures, including Nobel laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu, a South African anti-apartheid activist.
The Rohingya maintain they are indigenous to western Myanmar with a heritage of over a millennium and influence from the Arabs, Mughals and Portuguese. The community claims it is descended from people in precolonial Arakan and colonial Arakan; historically, the region was an independent kingdom between Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.[36] The position of the Myanmar government is that Rohingyas are not a national "indigenous race", but are illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. It argues that the Muslims of precolonial times are now recognized as Kameins and that the Rohingya conflate their history with the history of all Muslims in Arakan to advance a separatist agenda. In addition, Myanmar's government does not recognize the term "Rohingya" and prefers to refer to the community as "Bangali" in a pejorative manner. Rohingya campaign groups, notably the Arakan Rohingya National Organization, demand the right to "self-determination within Myanmar".
Various armed insurrections by the Rohingya have taken place since the 1940s and the population as a whole has faced military crackdowns in 1978, 1991–1992, 2012, 2015, 2016–2017 and particularly in 2017–2018, when most of the Rohingya population of Myanmar was driven out of the country, into neighboring Bangladesh. By December 2017, an estimated 625,000 refugees from Rakhine, Myanmar, had crossed the border into Bangladesh since August 2017. UN officials and Human Rights Watch have described Myanmar's persecution of the Rohingya as ethnic cleansing. The UN human rights envoy to Myanmar reported "the long history of discrimination and persecution against the Rohingya community... could amount to crimes against humanity", and there have been warnings of an unfolding genocide. Probes by the UN have found evidence of increasing incitement of hatred and religious intolerance by "ultra-nationalist Buddhists" against Rohingyas while the Myanmar security forces have been conducting "summary executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and ill-treatment, and forced labour" against the community.
Before the 2015 Rohingya refugee crisis and the military crackdown in 2016 and 2017, the Rohingya population in Myanmar was around 1.0 to 1.3 million, chiefly in the northern Rakhine townships, which were 80–98% Rohingya. Since 2015, over 900,000 Rohingya refugees have fled to south-eastern Bangladesh alone, and more to other surrounding countries, and major Muslim nations.More than 100,000 Rohingyas in Myanmar are confined in camps for internally displaced persons. Shortly before a Rohingya rebel attack that killed 12 security forces on 25 August 2017, the Myanmar military launched "clearance operations" against the Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state that, according to NGOs, the Bangladeshi government and international news media, left many dead, many more injured, tortured or raped, with villages burned. The government of Myanmar has denied the allegations."
Habiburahman's book is not one of continuous horror. He was a loved child of a normal village family. He had a grandmother, father and mother, and younger siblings. He had lots of friends, enjoyed school despite the occasional abuse from Rakhine students, and went to play and explore the nearby forests and streams. He sometimes cut classes to go on an adventure with a friend, earning punishment from his father. His father appears to me to have been a very intelligent man with many useful skills he could use to support his family. He operated a herbal shop. However, his success drew the eyes and attention of corrupt police officers who demanded frequent bribes. They also stole items from the shop.
As the years passed, the abuse, physical and social, steadily increased. Basically, it appears to me Habiburahman always had the boot of the Myanmar government pressing down on him and his family his entire life. But he was a typical boy, unaware and playful. Until the age of about twelve, when the oppression, brutality and corruption was too overt and awful for Habiburahman to not understand anymore that the lives of his family and village were becoming unbearable and impoverished by evermore draconian laws restricting his family and other Rohingya villagers to their houses. His father's business was constantly being robbed by the police, and other authorities demanded his father give up his land and store to be used by the military for a latrine.
Finally, Habiburahman had to leave the village. He wanted a college education to become a lawyer. However, he could only attend school in a larger city with false documents. It worked for awhile. Then things got really really bad.
Eventually Habiburahma ended up as a refugee. The story is harrowing and terrible. His journey led him to very bad times and places. I can't understand how Habiburahman survived. There was torture, starvation, slavery, and all of the physical humiliations any American slave from the antebellum South would have recognized.
Every Religion and mythological belief system ever invented by men since men have been around has now resorted to the use of genocide at some point in History in the getting of Power and wealth over weaker men. And as usual, everybody looks away or gives sermons with more impotent moralizing to make us forget and feel better about yet another display of the vicious rapaciously greedy nature of people and our complicity in ignoring it. Again. I wonder where the next crusading genocide of righteous murder of an entire people will happen. Central or South America? Africa again? The Middle East again? Maybe America and not just the South again? Comments are welcome below.
It is very sad. It also highlights the evil people do and continue to have done for millennia with impunity despite lots of high-minded moralizing. There is no God to save the soul of Humanity or any weaker human tribe or culture from torture, murder, rape, robbery, injustice and cruelty from a more murderous and more richer and militaristic tribe, whatever the religion one is part of, gentle reader. People suck. Just saying. All religions are simply a cover for individuals who desire power and wealth. Even peaceful religious Buddhists are succumbing to the siren call of power and the use of torture, a 1984 blueprint of social manipulation and genocide to get it.
Guardian interview with Habiburahman:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/201...
Refugee Council of Australia:
https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/mya...
Without question a genocide of the Rohingyas has been ordered and carried out by the Myanmar government.
After having listened to the audiobook 'First They Erased our Name' by Habiburahman, who is a Rohingya born in a small village in Western Myanmar, I know now the Rohingyas are being exterminated in a similar progression of how the Jews of Europe in World War II were almost utterly wiped off the face of Europe (and were successfully totally erased from Poland - fact).
The Muslim Rohingyas are perceived by the Burmese Buddhists and Myanmar's military government in exactly the same way as the Nazis perceived Jews. The Nazis gradually passed laws over a period of years and added more and more onerous conditions under which the Jews had to live, until finally the Nazis launched their endgame campaign of total extermination of the Jews. The Burmese have been following the Nazi gamebook of genocide since at least the 1940's against the Rohingyas.
Pogroms of increasing ferocity have been occurring for decades against Rohingya villages. The murderous attacks and oppression led to the formation of small Rohingya terrorist groups. Other minorities (animists, Christians, small ethnic tribes) in Myanmar also formed groups of terrorists who are staging raids on Burmese police and military installations to this day. They all want independence from Myanmar. The Rohingya terrorists hope at minimum to restore to the Rohingyas their inherited lands which have been stolen and sold illegally village by village, territory by territory, to Burmese Buddhists.
I think the Rohingyas are finished as far as being citizens of Myanmar.
The Rohingyas, contrary to Burmese propaganda, have been in the territory of Arakan since the 9th century. Arakan was first settled by a people called Rakhine. Later the Rohingyas arrived. The area was a crossroads for a lot of different ethnicities traveling through, including Arabs. The current tribal majority of Buddhists took charge of Burma after the British, who had formed a country out of the various local tribes, left.
Revenge attacks by some continuously persecuted minorities, who formed small terrorist groups, killed some of the majority tribal Buddhist-populated police and military members stationed on what were ethnic-minority inherited lands. This led to more burning down of Rohingya villages, and more rape, imprisonment and impounding of Rohingya property. Laws were passed stripping the Rohingyas of citizenship and any rights to leave their villages to hunt and travel in nearby forests and farms. They were forbidden education in state schools. These acts of government-sanctioned reprisals impoverished the Rohingyas, reducing their ability to feed themselves and participate in economic activities. Then, another Rohingya terrorist attack in 2015 killed many police and military members. The Final Solution of a Rohingya genocide began, regardless of the innocence of most Rohingyas in having committed any violence against the government.
Habiburahman narrates the story of his life from his birth in a quiet Rohingya village to becoming a refugee as a young adult in 'First They Erased our Name.' He does not have to embellish or lie about the growing hellish life of the Rohingyas and his childhood - it has been documented by brave journalists, NGOs, and many witnesses. If you have read any books about how the Nazis slowly stole away the rights of Jewish citizens by passing laws forbidding them from more and more social, educational and economic activities over several years in the countries of their birth before they began the "The Final Solution", gentle reader, you will see the similarity immediately to what happened in Myanmar for the last forty years in Habiburahman's autobiography.
Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohingy...
"The Rohingya people (/roʊˈɪndʒə, -hɪn-, -ɪŋjə/) are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and speak Bengali language and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). There were an estimated 1 million Rohingya living in Myanmar before the 2016–17 crisis. Described by the United Nations in 2013 as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, the Rohingya population is denied citizenship under the 1982 Myanmar nationality law. They are also restricted from freedom of movement, state education and civil service jobs. The legal conditions faced by the Rohingya in Myanmar have been widely compared to apartheid by many international academics, analysts and political figures, including Nobel laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu, a South African anti-apartheid activist.
The Rohingya maintain they are indigenous to western Myanmar with a heritage of over a millennium and influence from the Arabs, Mughals and Portuguese. The community claims it is descended from people in precolonial Arakan and colonial Arakan; historically, the region was an independent kingdom between Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.[36] The position of the Myanmar government is that Rohingyas are not a national "indigenous race", but are illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. It argues that the Muslims of precolonial times are now recognized as Kameins and that the Rohingya conflate their history with the history of all Muslims in Arakan to advance a separatist agenda. In addition, Myanmar's government does not recognize the term "Rohingya" and prefers to refer to the community as "Bangali" in a pejorative manner. Rohingya campaign groups, notably the Arakan Rohingya National Organization, demand the right to "self-determination within Myanmar".
Various armed insurrections by the Rohingya have taken place since the 1940s and the population as a whole has faced military crackdowns in 1978, 1991–1992, 2012, 2015, 2016–2017 and particularly in 2017–2018, when most of the Rohingya population of Myanmar was driven out of the country, into neighboring Bangladesh. By December 2017, an estimated 625,000 refugees from Rakhine, Myanmar, had crossed the border into Bangladesh since August 2017. UN officials and Human Rights Watch have described Myanmar's persecution of the Rohingya as ethnic cleansing. The UN human rights envoy to Myanmar reported "the long history of discrimination and persecution against the Rohingya community... could amount to crimes against humanity", and there have been warnings of an unfolding genocide. Probes by the UN have found evidence of increasing incitement of hatred and religious intolerance by "ultra-nationalist Buddhists" against Rohingyas while the Myanmar security forces have been conducting "summary executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and ill-treatment, and forced labour" against the community.
Before the 2015 Rohingya refugee crisis and the military crackdown in 2016 and 2017, the Rohingya population in Myanmar was around 1.0 to 1.3 million, chiefly in the northern Rakhine townships, which were 80–98% Rohingya. Since 2015, over 900,000 Rohingya refugees have fled to south-eastern Bangladesh alone, and more to other surrounding countries, and major Muslim nations.More than 100,000 Rohingyas in Myanmar are confined in camps for internally displaced persons. Shortly before a Rohingya rebel attack that killed 12 security forces on 25 August 2017, the Myanmar military launched "clearance operations" against the Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state that, according to NGOs, the Bangladeshi government and international news media, left many dead, many more injured, tortured or raped, with villages burned. The government of Myanmar has denied the allegations."
Habiburahman's book is not one of continuous horror. He was a loved child of a normal village family. He had a grandmother, father and mother, and younger siblings. He had lots of friends, enjoyed school despite the occasional abuse from Rakhine students, and went to play and explore the nearby forests and streams. He sometimes cut classes to go on an adventure with a friend, earning punishment from his father. His father appears to me to have been a very intelligent man with many useful skills he could use to support his family. He operated a herbal shop. However, his success drew the eyes and attention of corrupt police officers who demanded frequent bribes. They also stole items from the shop.
As the years passed, the abuse, physical and social, steadily increased. Basically, it appears to me Habiburahman always had the boot of the Myanmar government pressing down on him and his family his entire life. But he was a typical boy, unaware and playful. Until the age of about twelve, when the oppression, brutality and corruption was too overt and awful for Habiburahman to not understand anymore that the lives of his family and village were becoming unbearable and impoverished by evermore draconian laws restricting his family and other Rohingya villagers to their houses. His father's business was constantly being robbed by the police, and other authorities demanded his father give up his land and store to be used by the military for a latrine.
Finally, Habiburahman had to leave the village. He wanted a college education to become a lawyer. However, he could only attend school in a larger city with false documents. It worked for awhile. Then things got really really bad.
Eventually Habiburahma ended up as a refugee. The story is harrowing and terrible. His journey led him to very bad times and places. I can't understand how Habiburahman survived. There was torture, starvation, slavery, and all of the physical humiliations any American slave from the antebellum South would have recognized.
Every Religion and mythological belief system ever invented by men since men have been around has now resorted to the use of genocide at some point in History in the getting of Power and wealth over weaker men. And as usual, everybody looks away or gives sermons with more impotent moralizing to make us forget and feel better about yet another display of the vicious rapaciously greedy nature of people and our complicity in ignoring it. Again. I wonder where the next crusading genocide of righteous murder of an entire people will happen. Central or South America? Africa again? The Middle East again? Maybe America and not just the South again? Comments are welcome below.
It is very sad. It also highlights the evil people do and continue to have done for millennia with impunity despite lots of high-minded moralizing. There is no God to save the soul of Humanity or any weaker human tribe or culture from torture, murder, rape, robbery, injustice and cruelty from a more murderous and more richer and militaristic tribe, whatever the religion one is part of, gentle reader. People suck. Just saying. All religions are simply a cover for individuals who desire power and wealth. Even peaceful religious Buddhists are succumbing to the siren call of power and the use of torture, a 1984 blueprint of social manipulation and genocide to get it.
Guardian interview with Habiburahman:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/201...
Refugee Council of Australia:
https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/mya...
September 30, 2021
a must read, please read.
March 26, 2021
I highly recommend this book.
This is a fast-paced and gripping story of a Rohingya refugee who survived the horrors of ethnic genocide at the hands of the Burmese. His story and those of his fellow ethnic/religious community deserve much attention and they deserve peace.
It is completely horrifying that the global community has enabled this tragedy. I've known about this situation for three or four years and still see no relief. I am deeply disappointed in Aung San Suu Kyi. And today with a military coup in Myanmar/Burma, I see that the global community is consistently disappointing.
(And yes, I see the parallels between the genocide of Rohingya in Burma/Myanmar and the Uyghurs in the People's Republic of China. Both are shameful.)
This is a fast-paced and gripping story of a Rohingya refugee who survived the horrors of ethnic genocide at the hands of the Burmese. His story and those of his fellow ethnic/religious community deserve much attention and they deserve peace.
It is completely horrifying that the global community has enabled this tragedy. I've known about this situation for three or four years and still see no relief. I am deeply disappointed in Aung San Suu Kyi. And today with a military coup in Myanmar/Burma, I see that the global community is consistently disappointing.
(And yes, I see the parallels between the genocide of Rohingya in Burma/Myanmar and the Uyghurs in the People's Republic of China. Both are shameful.)
July 26, 2022
This book actually broke my heart like no other. It was so lyrical, somewhat like a fictional story but it’s not fiction, it’s all real, it’s all what the Rohingya people have been enduring for decades.
September 2, 2019
Fascinating, compelling, a horrific story.
If this was a work of fiction I would be praising the author for his vivid imagination and for weaving a compelling but utterly horrific story, sadly this is Habiburahman’s life story and that makes it even more appalling.
It is impossible to imagine living with constant fear and brutal oppression, it is also hard to comprehend that this isn’t ancient history but is about recent decades, the here and now.
The atrocities, depravation and deep humiliation are all recounted in a gentle manner without anger or bitterness something which speaks volumes about the author’s character.
There has been significant press around this book but the more widely it is read, the more widely the events are reported the greater the chance that the Rhohingya name and the plight of the people will not be ignored.
If this was a work of fiction I would be praising the author for his vivid imagination and for weaving a compelling but utterly horrific story, sadly this is Habiburahman’s life story and that makes it even more appalling.
It is impossible to imagine living with constant fear and brutal oppression, it is also hard to comprehend that this isn’t ancient history but is about recent decades, the here and now.
The atrocities, depravation and deep humiliation are all recounted in a gentle manner without anger or bitterness something which speaks volumes about the author’s character.
There has been significant press around this book but the more widely it is read, the more widely the events are reported the greater the chance that the Rhohingya name and the plight of the people will not be ignored.
Read
February 10, 2020This is my chance to speak for my people, who continue to suffer, but who are voiceless.
The Guardian
More than 688,000 Rohingya fled western Burma since August 2017, at the launch of punitive operations, a sweep of violence without precedent. Habiburahman, though, left the zone well before this happened — 18 years ago. He passed through Thailand and Malaysia, was stopped by a fishing boat, then tried to reach Australia by sea, getting as far as the Christmas Islands. After two and a half years in Australian detention centers, he was released at the end of 2012.
Le Monde
Habiburahman without doubt presents an unambiguous view of the Burmese situation … But there is little evidence from the Rangoon government to seriously deny it.
L’EXPRESS
The gripping, chilling inside story of the incubation of a genocide ... Habib’s moving family history emerges as a powerful and, to my knowledge, unique historical document. His compelling storytelling relates how playground prejudice against the Muslim Rohingya of Arakan escalated into pogroms, terror, and apartheid ... Incredible.
Jonathan Miller, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Channel 4 News
The book is written in simple language and tells the story without embellishment. There is no need for flourishes; it is relentless.
Gay Alcorn, The Guardian
The greatest barriers to stories such as Habiburahman’s being heard, though. Are invalidation and indifference. Do not be indifferent to this urgent, humane book. Read it, share it, talk about what has been happening — and in so doing safeguard the humanity of Habiburahman, the Rohingya and all asylum seekers, as well as the imperilled humanity of this country.
Maria Takolander, The Saturday Paper
[First, They Erased Our Name] tells the first-hand truth behind the global humanitarian crisis.
Business Standard
For the first time, Habib’s book gives written voice to the history of fate and his people who have been left stateless in their own country. Habib’s own story is an odyssey of danger, resistance, torture and courage.
James Taylor, Surf Coast Times
Compelling. FOUR STARS
Robyn Douglass, SA Weekend
The Guardian
More than 688,000 Rohingya fled western Burma since August 2017, at the launch of punitive operations, a sweep of violence without precedent. Habiburahman, though, left the zone well before this happened — 18 years ago. He passed through Thailand and Malaysia, was stopped by a fishing boat, then tried to reach Australia by sea, getting as far as the Christmas Islands. After two and a half years in Australian detention centers, he was released at the end of 2012.
Le Monde
Habiburahman without doubt presents an unambiguous view of the Burmese situation … But there is little evidence from the Rangoon government to seriously deny it.
L’EXPRESS
The gripping, chilling inside story of the incubation of a genocide ... Habib’s moving family history emerges as a powerful and, to my knowledge, unique historical document. His compelling storytelling relates how playground prejudice against the Muslim Rohingya of Arakan escalated into pogroms, terror, and apartheid ... Incredible.
Jonathan Miller, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Channel 4 News
The book is written in simple language and tells the story without embellishment. There is no need for flourishes; it is relentless.
Gay Alcorn, The Guardian
The greatest barriers to stories such as Habiburahman’s being heard, though. Are invalidation and indifference. Do not be indifferent to this urgent, humane book. Read it, share it, talk about what has been happening — and in so doing safeguard the humanity of Habiburahman, the Rohingya and all asylum seekers, as well as the imperilled humanity of this country.
Maria Takolander, The Saturday Paper
[First, They Erased Our Name] tells the first-hand truth behind the global humanitarian crisis.
Business Standard
For the first time, Habib’s book gives written voice to the history of fate and his people who have been left stateless in their own country. Habib’s own story is an odyssey of danger, resistance, torture and courage.
James Taylor, Surf Coast Times
Compelling. FOUR STARS
Robyn Douglass, SA Weekend
January 1, 2021
Who will tell the story of these massacres? The Rohingya do not have a written history. Our story could be told through the number of deaths, or the number of refugees if only someone were counting.
This book tells the story of Rohingya Muslims, as seen through the eyes of the author, written in the most beautiful way possible. The story is about the suffering, torture, helplessness, and death of 1.3 million Rohingya in the name of Ethnic Cleansing. I am amazed at how little reporting there is on the Rohingya Muslims, given the staggering militarization and human suffering.
I highly recommend this book if you want to understand what human rights violation is or how a majority of people are just surviving somehow and seeking sympathy from the world, waiting for someone to stand for them. The book ends on a very sad note saying:
The world was only listening to one voice in Myanmar, and at that critical moment, the fate of the Rohingya depended on her. As Aung San Suu Kyi gave her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo on 16 June 2012, 150 Rohingya were massacred in Kiladang Village in Arakan State; the Burmese press wrote of eliminating the ‘Bengali terrorists’, and the international press was still referring to an ‘inter-ethnic conflict’. The one voice of Myanmar had not spoken for us, and so now we would have to speak for ourselves.
This book tells the story of Rohingya Muslims, as seen through the eyes of the author, written in the most beautiful way possible. The story is about the suffering, torture, helplessness, and death of 1.3 million Rohingya in the name of Ethnic Cleansing. I am amazed at how little reporting there is on the Rohingya Muslims, given the staggering militarization and human suffering.
I highly recommend this book if you want to understand what human rights violation is or how a majority of people are just surviving somehow and seeking sympathy from the world, waiting for someone to stand for them. The book ends on a very sad note saying:
The world was only listening to one voice in Myanmar, and at that critical moment, the fate of the Rohingya depended on her. As Aung San Suu Kyi gave her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo on 16 June 2012, 150 Rohingya were massacred in Kiladang Village in Arakan State; the Burmese press wrote of eliminating the ‘Bengali terrorists’, and the international press was still referring to an ‘inter-ethnic conflict’. The one voice of Myanmar had not spoken for us, and so now we would have to speak for ourselves.
January 26, 2024
“The only thing that stops me going mad is the idea that my family and my community, who are suffering all kinds of torture in Myanmar, only have us, the diaspora, those living in exile, to help them. We must stand up and be counted and broadcast their cries for help. From now on, I live only for them.”
an absolutely shattering read, a first person account of the fate that has and is haunting millions of rohingyas, written in such a compelling and horrific way thats really hard to bear at times
an absolutely shattering read, a first person account of the fate that has and is haunting millions of rohingyas, written in such a compelling and horrific way thats really hard to bear at times
June 20, 2023
i loved how we got to understand the macro with the micro in this book.
everyone has heard of the Rohingya crisis. We all know that people in Myanmar were engaging in ethnic cleansing to get rid of Rohingyas and they were migrating to find refuge. But what was it actually like for them in Myanmar? We find out more about that through one person's story.
you can check out more of my thoughts about this book in this video i made: https://youtu.be/qgD0K8lTiHk
everyone has heard of the Rohingya crisis. We all know that people in Myanmar were engaging in ethnic cleansing to get rid of Rohingyas and they were migrating to find refuge. But what was it actually like for them in Myanmar? We find out more about that through one person's story.
you can check out more of my thoughts about this book in this video i made: https://youtu.be/qgD0K8lTiHk
Read
November 5, 2023i cannot recommend it enough
March 10, 2020
What a story.
December 18, 2023
4.5
Must read.
Must read.
March 29, 2022
The international community has the power to highlight conflicts and direct sympathy as it sees fit. For years, the world turned a blind eye to the suffering of the Rohingya people. The Rohingya endure indescribable apartheid in their country Myanmar as the government denies them citizenship, and effectively treats them as inferior, illegal immigrants-- even though they have rightfully been part of their homeland.
For the past several decades, Rohingya have endured systemic racism, torture and violence perpetuated by extremist groups in Myanmar. In 2017, a mass exodus of a hundred thousand Rohingya crossed the border to Bangladesh, and this event finally marked the turning of the international community's attention towards the Rohingya plight.
To a people's whose voice is effectively silenced enters Habiburahman, elevating the experiences and the oppression faced by the Rohingya at the hands of the state, and also in the countries who host them as asylum-seekers.
Habiburahman's harrowing journey takes us from a young boy's dream of becoming a lawyer, and to his realization at a young age that his was not a normal childhood- but that of which he needs to learn to survive. His journey to education and freedom lead him to jail, across Myanmar borders, and at the brink of human trafficking. Finally, he speaks his story, and the story of his people -- the neglected, voiceless and forgotten. He is one of the first to elevate their voices, and with the help of Sophie Ansel, his voice resonates powerfully.
A great read to educate ourselves about the ongoing apartheid against Rohingya in Myanmar and the refugee crisis created by it.
For the past several decades, Rohingya have endured systemic racism, torture and violence perpetuated by extremist groups in Myanmar. In 2017, a mass exodus of a hundred thousand Rohingya crossed the border to Bangladesh, and this event finally marked the turning of the international community's attention towards the Rohingya plight.
To a people's whose voice is effectively silenced enters Habiburahman, elevating the experiences and the oppression faced by the Rohingya at the hands of the state, and also in the countries who host them as asylum-seekers.
Habiburahman's harrowing journey takes us from a young boy's dream of becoming a lawyer, and to his realization at a young age that his was not a normal childhood- but that of which he needs to learn to survive. His journey to education and freedom lead him to jail, across Myanmar borders, and at the brink of human trafficking. Finally, he speaks his story, and the story of his people -- the neglected, voiceless and forgotten. He is one of the first to elevate their voices, and with the help of Sophie Ansel, his voice resonates powerfully.
A great read to educate ourselves about the ongoing apartheid against Rohingya in Myanmar and the refugee crisis created by it.
June 15, 2020
This book talks about the Rohingya people through the eyes of a man who is from the minority Burmese natives that are highly oppressed people. He tells his story about his struggles growing up and the lack of opportunities given to him as in his country he is considered "black" and not important or worthy of much. He endured slavery in Thailand as well as other situations. It is nice to finally read a book by a Rohingya. It was really well written, though definitely not completely a happy ending since so many of these people are being killed and enslaved in Myanmar, Thailand, and other countries.
April 16, 2025
长达几十年，从未停止过的大屠杀，第一次知道罗兴亚人大屠杀也是在一几年的时候，大量难民逃往孟加拉边境，看完这本书才知道，几十年了，从没变过，而且越来越糟
Read
February 10, 2020This is my chance to speak for my people, who continue to suffer, but who are voiceless.
The Guardian
More than 688,000 Rohingya fled western Burma since August 2017, at the launch of punitive operations, a sweep of violence without precedent. Habiburahman, though, left the zone well before this happened — 18 years ago. He passed through Thailand and Malaysia, was stopped by a fishing boat, then tried to reach Australia by sea, getting as far as the Christmas Islands. After two and a half years in Australian detention centers, he was released at the end of 2012.
Le Monde
Habiburahman without doubt presents an unambiguous view of the Burmese situation … But there is little evidence from the Rangoon government to seriously deny it.
L’EXPRESS
The gripping, chilling inside story of the incubation of a genocide ... Habib’s moving family history emerges as a powerful and, to my knowledge, unique historical document. His compelling storytelling relates how playground prejudice against the Muslim Rohingya of Arakan escalated into pogroms, terror, and apartheid ... Incredible.
Jonathan Miller, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Channel 4 News
The book is written in simple language and tells the story without embellishment. There is no need for flourishes; it is relentless.
Gay Alcorn, The Guardian
The greatest barriers to stories such as Habiburahman’s being heard, though. Are invalidation and indifference. Do not be indifferent to this urgent, humane book. Read it, share it, talk about what has been happening — and in so doing safeguard the humanity of Habiburahman, the Rohingya and all asylum seekers, as well as the imperilled humanity of this country.
Maria Takolander, The Saturday Paper
[First, They Erased Our Name] tells the first-hand truth behind the global humanitarian crisis.
Business Standard
For the first time, Habib’s book gives written voice to the history of fate and his people who have been left stateless in their own country. Habib’s own story is an odyssey of danger, resistance, torture and courage.
James Taylor, Surf Coast Times
Compelling. FOUR STARS
Robyn Douglass, SA Weekend
The Guardian
More than 688,000 Rohingya fled western Burma since August 2017, at the launch of punitive operations, a sweep of violence without precedent. Habiburahman, though, left the zone well before this happened — 18 years ago. He passed through Thailand and Malaysia, was stopped by a fishing boat, then tried to reach Australia by sea, getting as far as the Christmas Islands. After two and a half years in Australian detention centers, he was released at the end of 2012.
Le Monde
Habiburahman without doubt presents an unambiguous view of the Burmese situation … But there is little evidence from the Rangoon government to seriously deny it.
L’EXPRESS
The gripping, chilling inside story of the incubation of a genocide ... Habib’s moving family history emerges as a powerful and, to my knowledge, unique historical document. His compelling storytelling relates how playground prejudice against the Muslim Rohingya of Arakan escalated into pogroms, terror, and apartheid ... Incredible.
Jonathan Miller, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Channel 4 News
The book is written in simple language and tells the story without embellishment. There is no need for flourishes; it is relentless.
Gay Alcorn, The Guardian
The greatest barriers to stories such as Habiburahman’s being heard, though. Are invalidation and indifference. Do not be indifferent to this urgent, humane book. Read it, share it, talk about what has been happening — and in so doing safeguard the humanity of Habiburahman, the Rohingya and all asylum seekers, as well as the imperilled humanity of this country.
Maria Takolander, The Saturday Paper
[First, They Erased Our Name] tells the first-hand truth behind the global humanitarian crisis.
Business Standard
For the first time, Habib’s book gives written voice to the history of fate and his people who have been left stateless in their own country. Habib’s own story is an odyssey of danger, resistance, torture and courage.
James Taylor, Surf Coast Times
Compelling. FOUR STARS
Robyn Douglass, SA Weekend
February 16, 2022
"I would have liked to tell him about everything that has happened to me. I would have liked to tell him about Arakan, our land that was confiscated, the arrests, imprisonment, the humiliation and torture, my house that was stolen, and the continuing persecution of my family who are held hostage under the apartheid system in Sittwe. I would have liked to be asked how I feel, what my needs are. If I had somewhere to sleep, if I was hungry, about my state of health. I would have liked all kinds of things because I feel alone, hunted, and sad; I would have liked a listening ear, some empathy. I would have liked some comfort because I don’t know where to turn anymore. I am tired of being on edge, day after day, a ball of stress in my stomach, with no respite, in a world where a single lapse of concentration could turn my life upside down. Because I am my mother’s and my father’s son and I miss my family. Because I am a man like any other. Despite all this, something changes inside me. I have a status. I have been declared a refugee. The persecutions I have suffered are now recognised. I stare at the letter for hours."
The book is replete with the words like - death, torture, humiliation, barbarism, exhausted. What does one do when only these words are the constant reality of a group of people just for the sin of existing? A story of genocide that has been happening since several years now, a genocide that the world has refused to acknowledge or act upon. Buddhist extremists committing heinous atrocities against their own brethren, changing histories, demonization of ethnicities - for someone who lives in south asia, this is not really a news. Just a reinforcement of the fact that hatred and unchecked religion go absolutely hand in hand.
The book is replete with the words like - death, torture, humiliation, barbarism, exhausted. What does one do when only these words are the constant reality of a group of people just for the sin of existing? A story of genocide that has been happening since several years now, a genocide that the world has refused to acknowledge or act upon. Buddhist extremists committing heinous atrocities against their own brethren, changing histories, demonization of ethnicities - for someone who lives in south asia, this is not really a news. Just a reinforcement of the fact that hatred and unchecked religion go absolutely hand in hand.
April 10, 2020
A first-hand account of a Rohinya’s journey in exile. Habib’s story touches different themes on ethnicity, religion, identity, family, education, love and survival. It also sheds light on Myanmar’s military regime and ‘ethnic cleansing’.
This is a truly heartbreaking read that is difficult to take in – lots of physical brutalities, bloodshed and monetary extortion. No one deserves to go through the tumultuous journey that Habib did. I attempted to map out Habib’s journey in exile. I actually read most of the book on long bus rides during a vacay, which stands in stark contrast from the kind of travels Habib had to endure, with countless brushes with death.
Reading Habib’s story also sheds light on the common threads that unite us despite living vastly different lives, where he draws comfort from the nature and music. Some quotes that I especially fancy include ‘intoxicated with nature’, ‘no one can take the moon away from us’ and how the moon is ‘pure, serene, reassuring and loyal – making darkness more bearable’.
I’m in awe of Habib’s courage to stand up to share his story of perseverance and mental resolve. Knowing that the Rohingyas are still fighting for their survival we’re reading this book really alarms me – and what’s more the untold stories that we’d never get to hear.
Had a cosy book discussion with a friend about this the Rohingya crisis over dinner and how we would like to (in our limited ways) contribute to humanitarian efforts now and in the future!
This is a truly heartbreaking read that is difficult to take in – lots of physical brutalities, bloodshed and monetary extortion. No one deserves to go through the tumultuous journey that Habib did. I attempted to map out Habib’s journey in exile. I actually read most of the book on long bus rides during a vacay, which stands in stark contrast from the kind of travels Habib had to endure, with countless brushes with death.
Reading Habib’s story also sheds light on the common threads that unite us despite living vastly different lives, where he draws comfort from the nature and music. Some quotes that I especially fancy include ‘intoxicated with nature’, ‘no one can take the moon away from us’ and how the moon is ‘pure, serene, reassuring and loyal – making darkness more bearable’.
I’m in awe of Habib’s courage to stand up to share his story of perseverance and mental resolve. Knowing that the Rohingyas are still fighting for their survival we’re reading this book really alarms me – and what’s more the untold stories that we’d never get to hear.
Had a cosy book discussion with a friend about this the Rohingya crisis over dinner and how we would like to (in our limited ways) contribute to humanitarian efforts now and in the future!
October 24, 2020
Everyone knows about Rohingya crisis but this is one of rare occasions where a Rohingya has 'written' a first hand account of their plight. It covers the journey of Habiburahman, the author, from his native Arakan state in Myanmar to Australia and the relentless discrimination he faces. This book holds up a mirror and shows all international organizations like UNO, OIC etc and developed nations like USA ,UK etc that there is a genocide being committed right beneath their noses. Illiteracy among Rohingyas and Burmese propaganda have not helped the cause.
The solution,if any, to this problem is pressurising Burmese government to resettle Rohingyas in Arakan,the place they belong, with full dignity and grant them citizenship.
The book may not be a masterpiece but it is one of its kind.Everyone should read this book,rather than Mein Kampf.
The solution,if any, to this problem is pressurising Burmese government to resettle Rohingyas in Arakan,the place they belong, with full dignity and grant them citizenship.
The book may not be a masterpiece but it is one of its kind.Everyone should read this book,rather than Mein Kampf.
October 30, 2019
I read a digital advanced readers edition of this eye opening story through Edelweiss.
This disturbing, heartbreaking autobiography sheds light on the genocide of an ethnic group in Burma.
Habib's family struggles to survive living under the radar in a small village with a diverse ethnic population. They must never utter the name of their ethnic group, the Rohingya. Habib's parents are determined that their children will have a good education and hope that they will become lawyers.
They make every sacrifice to ensure that Habib and his three younger siblings will succeed. Then the government increases the pressure on all Muslims and the family is forced to flee to another village in Malaysia.
This disturbing, heartbreaking autobiography sheds light on the genocide of an ethnic group in Burma.
Habib's family struggles to survive living under the radar in a small village with a diverse ethnic population. They must never utter the name of their ethnic group, the Rohingya. Habib's parents are determined that their children will have a good education and hope that they will become lawyers.
They make every sacrifice to ensure that Habib and his three younger siblings will succeed. Then the government increases the pressure on all Muslims and the family is forced to flee to another village in Malaysia.
November 3, 2019
Only we know what is really happening in Arakan and only we are calling this massacre by it’s real name: genocide. The world is unwilling to use the term, because then it would be forced to act”- Habiburahman.
•
The book, in all its simplicity, elaborates on what the Rohingayas have suffered. A race, almost wiped off. It is unnerving to know that this account of atrocities, humiliation and inhumanity is not a part of history but a part of our present. This suffering is being inflicted as we speak. ‘Our voices, our pens and most of all social media are our only weapons’. I hope Habiburahman’s story reach out to the world.
•
The book, in all its simplicity, elaborates on what the Rohingayas have suffered. A race, almost wiped off. It is unnerving to know that this account of atrocities, humiliation and inhumanity is not a part of history but a part of our present. This suffering is being inflicted as we speak. ‘Our voices, our pens and most of all social media are our only weapons’. I hope Habiburahman’s story reach out to the world.
September 4, 2019
Important insight into the horrific conditions experienced by Rohingya in Burma. Habiburahman shows strength and determination. He understands the value of education and does all he can to learn all he can. The bravery he shows in continuing to work as an activist, even when it puts him in mortal danger. This genocide is happening right on our back doorstep. As Australians we need to speak up. We need to support the Rohingya and force our government to act. This is an important story we all need to read and understand.
My thanks to Scribe for giving me this free review copy.
My thanks to Scribe for giving me this free review copy.
October 6, 2019
I really don't understand why the average rating is not 5.0 but it was such a good book. It opened my eyes to what I wouldn't have known about, all because i read the synopsis one day and thought it was time for me to finally understand what is going on and why there is the Rohingya crisis for years. It took a lot of courage for the Habiburahman to write all these and to document all these. I just sincerely hope that international help will do something for those who are prejudiced.
February 12, 2019
Vraiment un livre à lire, surtout que l’histoire d’Habiburahman représente le présent de tellement trop de gens encore... Bien qu’il ait vécut des choses terribles, le texte est empreint de retenu et ne cherche pas à choquer. C’est une histoire d’une infinie tristesse mais qu’on se doit de lire pour ne jamais laisser ces horreurs être effacées. En espérant qu’il y ait un peu de justice un jour...
March 25, 2022
Heartbreakingly important.
I don't observe any religion, and don't believe in any God that I've heard of. I think religion is how humans deal with their fear of death. Since they just can't accept that they have to die, they make up this thing where they get to have another life somewhere after they die. religion for me is pure chaos, because it's the source of wars, torture, imprisonment, and the suppression of women.
The protagonist is rohingya, but from an early age, his father impresses on him the need to lie:
"You can say that you are a muslim. But if you say that you are Rohingya, they will lock you away and then kill you. We all have to stick together even if it costs us the last kyat of our savings. The authorities want one of two things to eliminate us or to strip us bare...."
The protagonist's Uncle Dim comes home from being imprisoned:
"When he sees me, he manages a tiny glimmer of a smile and pinches my cheek. After swallowing some tea and eating a plate of rice with chilli sauce, he tries to lie down, helped by Auntie Fuma, who is attentive to his every need. He has been beaten on his stomach and the back of his neck, and is in such pain that no position is comfortable for him. His swollen eyelids disfigure his face."
The protagonist's father has a little shop where he sells herbal medicine, and treats the villagers. One day the Captain from Rakhine who is the head of law and order in their area announces that every villager will be required to help build a pagoda for worshiping Buddha. Buddhists are the majority, and Muslims are harassed, imprisoned, tortured, for any and every reason. There are Christians in the area, as well, who have a place where they observe their religion on the mountaintop, in the exact spot where the Pagoda will be built. Every family has to make a donation of a thousand kiosk which is equal to several days pay for most households. Those who can't donate will be sent to prison.
Hunting down the Rohingya, what they named the "Bengali invaders," is something that's been going on for decades in myanmar. It began in 1959, when the army baptized the operation She Kyi (Pure Gold). Since then, the campaigns have been renamed, and finally in 1982, "Rohingya" became a forbidden word, that was never to be uttered and it would sentence the men and women who had that name to Capital punishment.
As all oligarchs and governments do, it's no different in Myanmar, Divide and Conquer:
"at night, I carry on listening secretly to the BBC and voice of America with dad, and I gradually start to realize that we are living in one of the worst dictatorships on the planet. Is the international community aware that we exist in the state of apartheid in the depths of a country cut off from the rest of the world? Do Burmese people from other states know who we are? These radio programs raise all kinds of questions in my mind and provide material for lengthy whispered discussions with Dad that never shake his faith in Union: 'ethnic groups in different political, ethnic and religious ideologies must one day unite to defeat the dictatorship. It is an enormous challenge because disunity is one of this military juntas great battlegrounds.' "
Habib has always worked hard on his grades, and he's rewarded with passing his final exams. But because he has no identity documents he cannot collect his certificate. He's hoping to travel to Maungdaw in the North where many Rohingya live and a handful of international humanitarian organizations have obtained authorization to set up offices. He's not sure what he's looking for but he's hoping that his excellent School results will open doors for him. So he jumps through many many Hoops to get an authorization to travel to the north to try his luck, to get a job.
He receives a 14-day pass, after paying many bribes. He will need more money to pay even more bribes on his journey.
Habin sees the signs of poverty of the Rohingya in Maungdaw. Women dressed in shabby shawla that fail to conceal their leathery skin and emaciated bodies. naked children are covered in scabs and their bellies are swollen by malnutrition. There are men dragging heavy carts that are normally drawn by oxen. The number of people in the town is unbelievable, and Habib has never seen so many Muslims nor has he ever seen so much sadness and pain in people's eyes.
Habib manages to get an appointment with a manager and a humanitarian organization, but it's not for 2 weeks, and his papers will have expired. His hopes for some help cause him to stay and his Visa expires. When he finally gets his appointment with the manager, he is given a job as a street sweeper for 3 days. He stays for 3 months, doing odd jobs, but finally has to admit to himself that his prospects were better in his hometown.
However, he is terrified of dealing with government officials; if they find out that his permit is no longer valid he will be arrested, tortured and imprisoned, and never allowed to see his family again.
The protagonist finally finds a way to attend University, but he only does it by leaving his family without saying goodbye. He travels to the city where he buys a fake identity and he meets a professor who is a fellow Rohingya. This professor hosts a group of students of Rohingya, and they secretly meet to discuss what they can do to help their people. They do research on the resources of their country, hoping to publish their results, and let the people realize that if they unite, they can beat their government.
In secret, in the dead of night, each of the students takes a part of the city to pass out pamphlets. Though they take great caution, they are caught, jailed, or shot.
"48 hours have passed and I haven't had a drop of water to drink. I have had no respite to even think about the possibility of organizing my release. It has to be bought, with money. My life depends on their greed. How can I pay them without putting my loved ones in danger? Who can I contact? All my friends are here in prison. If I give them my parents contact details, they will be arrested. No, I cannot do that. I want to die and stop the suffering."
The professor negotiates a meeting with the officials. By collecting money and bribing the officials, he gets them to agree to look the other way while the students escape out the window.
His professor tells him to meet him at his youth hostel:
"after about an hour, I finally catch sight of the hostel. The teacher is waiting for me in my cupboard in the backyard. There is no time to lose.
'Nyi NYU [his alias], Here are a few coins to buy a bus ticket and pay for a few journeys. You must flee straight away. Don't stay in myanmar, they have your name on file. Take these clothes and change. Go to the bus station and travel via Yangon [formerly Rangoon]. You will be anonymous there, which will give you a few days to find the money you need to leave the country. Travel via the remotest areas of Shan State because the borders between Myanmar and Thailand are temporarily closed and Special Forces have been deployed to Target Burmese students. Goodbye."
He arrives in Bangkok, and immediately looks for a fellow Muslim, who may be able to help him.
He is directed to a Rohingya who sells bread from a barrel in front of a shop. He is prepared to let Habib stay with him, and he is Habib's savior:
"in a tiny room in a run-down building along a sordid alleyway hidden away from the main thoroughfare, there was an old straw mattress on the ground.
'This is my bed. Please rest. There are some basins of water in the back to freshen yourself up. I'm sure you need a good wash after your long journey.'
the generosity of this humble and destitute stranger, who without hesitation, is prepared to share what little he has with me, moves me deeply. His humanity is a rare light in the bottomless pit of despair in which I've found myself since the evening of the raid. It is a respite from this infernal spiral."
Habib eventually gets a status of refugee and is under the protection of the United Nations. However, he finds that there is no real protection.
In 2004 after he is arrested and held in detention centers in Malaysia, and Thai and Malay immigration officers sell him to human traffickers, who then sell him to a mafia of Thai fisherman, where he becomes a slave in the Andaman Sea. They get no respite, and are threatened to be thrown overboard if the work is not done.
He escapes and makes his way, by paying bribes, to a detention center off the Australian coast: Darwin. From there he has internet access, and he finds out bad news from home.
Because three young Muslim men have been arrested and sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a young Rakhine woman,
"a network of government workers and extremists monks inflamed the internet by spreading images of the young woman alongside anti-muslim hate speech. A village of Rakhines organizes an ambush of a bus full of Muslims. The passengers are forced off the bus and beaten to death in total impunity by a furious crowd. The photographs of the disfigured corpses of these Innocents are widely shared. The Rohingya population is in shock and takes to the streets to protest. The repercussions are immediate. The army and the Rakhine surround Rohingya villages and set them on fire, massacring any who tried to escape with swords and blows from rifle butts. mum and my sisters are under siege, trapped in the middle of a pogrom that is setting Western Myanmar ablaze."
Words in a review don't come close to the horror that I readp between the pages of this book. Our privacy and rights are under threat in this country, but we have no idea what it's like to live in constant fear and harassment because of the color of your skin, and because of where you were born.
I don't observe any religion, and don't believe in any God that I've heard of. I think religion is how humans deal with their fear of death. Since they just can't accept that they have to die, they make up this thing where they get to have another life somewhere after they die. religion for me is pure chaos, because it's the source of wars, torture, imprisonment, and the suppression of women.
The protagonist is rohingya, but from an early age, his father impresses on him the need to lie:
"You can say that you are a muslim. But if you say that you are Rohingya, they will lock you away and then kill you. We all have to stick together even if it costs us the last kyat of our savings. The authorities want one of two things to eliminate us or to strip us bare...."
The protagonist's Uncle Dim comes home from being imprisoned:
"When he sees me, he manages a tiny glimmer of a smile and pinches my cheek. After swallowing some tea and eating a plate of rice with chilli sauce, he tries to lie down, helped by Auntie Fuma, who is attentive to his every need. He has been beaten on his stomach and the back of his neck, and is in such pain that no position is comfortable for him. His swollen eyelids disfigure his face."
The protagonist's father has a little shop where he sells herbal medicine, and treats the villagers. One day the Captain from Rakhine who is the head of law and order in their area announces that every villager will be required to help build a pagoda for worshiping Buddha. Buddhists are the majority, and Muslims are harassed, imprisoned, tortured, for any and every reason. There are Christians in the area, as well, who have a place where they observe their religion on the mountaintop, in the exact spot where the Pagoda will be built. Every family has to make a donation of a thousand kiosk which is equal to several days pay for most households. Those who can't donate will be sent to prison.
Hunting down the Rohingya, what they named the "Bengali invaders," is something that's been going on for decades in myanmar. It began in 1959, when the army baptized the operation She Kyi (Pure Gold). Since then, the campaigns have been renamed, and finally in 1982, "Rohingya" became a forbidden word, that was never to be uttered and it would sentence the men and women who had that name to Capital punishment.
As all oligarchs and governments do, it's no different in Myanmar, Divide and Conquer:
"at night, I carry on listening secretly to the BBC and voice of America with dad, and I gradually start to realize that we are living in one of the worst dictatorships on the planet. Is the international community aware that we exist in the state of apartheid in the depths of a country cut off from the rest of the world? Do Burmese people from other states know who we are? These radio programs raise all kinds of questions in my mind and provide material for lengthy whispered discussions with Dad that never shake his faith in Union: 'ethnic groups in different political, ethnic and religious ideologies must one day unite to defeat the dictatorship. It is an enormous challenge because disunity is one of this military juntas great battlegrounds.' "
Habib has always worked hard on his grades, and he's rewarded with passing his final exams. But because he has no identity documents he cannot collect his certificate. He's hoping to travel to Maungdaw in the North where many Rohingya live and a handful of international humanitarian organizations have obtained authorization to set up offices. He's not sure what he's looking for but he's hoping that his excellent School results will open doors for him. So he jumps through many many Hoops to get an authorization to travel to the north to try his luck, to get a job.
He receives a 14-day pass, after paying many bribes. He will need more money to pay even more bribes on his journey.
Habin sees the signs of poverty of the Rohingya in Maungdaw. Women dressed in shabby shawla that fail to conceal their leathery skin and emaciated bodies. naked children are covered in scabs and their bellies are swollen by malnutrition. There are men dragging heavy carts that are normally drawn by oxen. The number of people in the town is unbelievable, and Habib has never seen so many Muslims nor has he ever seen so much sadness and pain in people's eyes.
Habib manages to get an appointment with a manager and a humanitarian organization, but it's not for 2 weeks, and his papers will have expired. His hopes for some help cause him to stay and his Visa expires. When he finally gets his appointment with the manager, he is given a job as a street sweeper for 3 days. He stays for 3 months, doing odd jobs, but finally has to admit to himself that his prospects were better in his hometown.
However, he is terrified of dealing with government officials; if they find out that his permit is no longer valid he will be arrested, tortured and imprisoned, and never allowed to see his family again.
The protagonist finally finds a way to attend University, but he only does it by leaving his family without saying goodbye. He travels to the city where he buys a fake identity and he meets a professor who is a fellow Rohingya. This professor hosts a group of students of Rohingya, and they secretly meet to discuss what they can do to help their people. They do research on the resources of their country, hoping to publish their results, and let the people realize that if they unite, they can beat their government.
In secret, in the dead of night, each of the students takes a part of the city to pass out pamphlets. Though they take great caution, they are caught, jailed, or shot.
"48 hours have passed and I haven't had a drop of water to drink. I have had no respite to even think about the possibility of organizing my release. It has to be bought, with money. My life depends on their greed. How can I pay them without putting my loved ones in danger? Who can I contact? All my friends are here in prison. If I give them my parents contact details, they will be arrested. No, I cannot do that. I want to die and stop the suffering."
The professor negotiates a meeting with the officials. By collecting money and bribing the officials, he gets them to agree to look the other way while the students escape out the window.
His professor tells him to meet him at his youth hostel:
"after about an hour, I finally catch sight of the hostel. The teacher is waiting for me in my cupboard in the backyard. There is no time to lose.
'Nyi NYU [his alias], Here are a few coins to buy a bus ticket and pay for a few journeys. You must flee straight away. Don't stay in myanmar, they have your name on file. Take these clothes and change. Go to the bus station and travel via Yangon [formerly Rangoon]. You will be anonymous there, which will give you a few days to find the money you need to leave the country. Travel via the remotest areas of Shan State because the borders between Myanmar and Thailand are temporarily closed and Special Forces have been deployed to Target Burmese students. Goodbye."
He arrives in Bangkok, and immediately looks for a fellow Muslim, who may be able to help him.
He is directed to a Rohingya who sells bread from a barrel in front of a shop. He is prepared to let Habib stay with him, and he is Habib's savior:
"in a tiny room in a run-down building along a sordid alleyway hidden away from the main thoroughfare, there was an old straw mattress on the ground.
'This is my bed. Please rest. There are some basins of water in the back to freshen yourself up. I'm sure you need a good wash after your long journey.'
the generosity of this humble and destitute stranger, who without hesitation, is prepared to share what little he has with me, moves me deeply. His humanity is a rare light in the bottomless pit of despair in which I've found myself since the evening of the raid. It is a respite from this infernal spiral."
Habib eventually gets a status of refugee and is under the protection of the United Nations. However, he finds that there is no real protection.
In 2004 after he is arrested and held in detention centers in Malaysia, and Thai and Malay immigration officers sell him to human traffickers, who then sell him to a mafia of Thai fisherman, where he becomes a slave in the Andaman Sea. They get no respite, and are threatened to be thrown overboard if the work is not done.
He escapes and makes his way, by paying bribes, to a detention center off the Australian coast: Darwin. From there he has internet access, and he finds out bad news from home.
Because three young Muslim men have been arrested and sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a young Rakhine woman,
"a network of government workers and extremists monks inflamed the internet by spreading images of the young woman alongside anti-muslim hate speech. A village of Rakhines organizes an ambush of a bus full of Muslims. The passengers are forced off the bus and beaten to death in total impunity by a furious crowd. The photographs of the disfigured corpses of these Innocents are widely shared. The Rohingya population is in shock and takes to the streets to protest. The repercussions are immediate. The army and the Rakhine surround Rohingya villages and set them on fire, massacring any who tried to escape with swords and blows from rifle butts. mum and my sisters are under siege, trapped in the middle of a pogrom that is setting Western Myanmar ablaze."
Words in a review don't come close to the horror that I readp between the pages of this book. Our privacy and rights are under threat in this country, but we have no idea what it's like to live in constant fear and harassment because of the color of your skin, and because of where you were born.
March 14, 2021
First, They Erased Our Name: A Rohingya Speaks is a heartbreaking book narrated by a Rohingya on his life from his birth to becoming a refugee. Written by Habiburahman (Habib), Sophie Ansel and translated into English by Andrea Reece, this is such an important book depicting the systematic discrimination and organized massacres towards Rohingya People in Myanmar.
Habib was born in 1979 and raised in a small village in Rakhine (Arakan) State in west of Myanmar. When he was 3 years old, General Ne Win, then country’s military leader declared that he and his people were not on the list of the 135 recognized ethnic groups. He shared about the brief and sporadic joy he had in his childhood with his friends from other ethnic groups in the village. When the situations in his village exacerbated, Habib and his family had to flee their villages abandoning their home.
Habib recounted how he and other Rohingya in Sitwe (capital city of Rakhine State) have faced further extreme prejudice and persecution from the military and the nationalists. They had been denied even for basic human rights. They couldn’t travel outside of the city and if they wanted to visit a sick relatives in distance town or village, they had to bribe the officials in order to receive a travel permit. Despite all these horrifying events, Habib’s father knew the importance of education in his children’s life. He spent his hard earned money for his kids to get the State education.
After he completed the matriculation exams, Habib realized that to free himself and his people from the oppression of the dictatorship, he had to escape Sitwe and pursue higher education else where. He later involved in a student movement organized by a professor which later led him to flee the country. The book includes his struggles to survive as an illegal immigrant in Thailand and Malaysia. Habib also shared his adventurous escapade to Australia, his time in detention center as well as his active participation for the freedom of his people through various reporters and organizations.
As the title suggest, Habib tells how the junta had planned and executed various operations to eradicate the Rohingya people from the list of official ethnic groups as well as from the face of the earth. Habib shares his owns experiences so that he can be the voice of his own people when many people in Myanmar and around the world failed to speak up for them. The writing and narrative is slightly odd in some chapters which might possibly be the poor translation. Regardless, this is an important book to learn and listen to the the voice for the Rohingya People who have been voiceless for several decades. 4.3 of 5. I read this book on @scribd.
Habib was born in 1979 and raised in a small village in Rakhine (Arakan) State in west of Myanmar. When he was 3 years old, General Ne Win, then country’s military leader declared that he and his people were not on the list of the 135 recognized ethnic groups. He shared about the brief and sporadic joy he had in his childhood with his friends from other ethnic groups in the village. When the situations in his village exacerbated, Habib and his family had to flee their villages abandoning their home.
Habib recounted how he and other Rohingya in Sitwe (capital city of Rakhine State) have faced further extreme prejudice and persecution from the military and the nationalists. They had been denied even for basic human rights. They couldn’t travel outside of the city and if they wanted to visit a sick relatives in distance town or village, they had to bribe the officials in order to receive a travel permit. Despite all these horrifying events, Habib’s father knew the importance of education in his children’s life. He spent his hard earned money for his kids to get the State education.
After he completed the matriculation exams, Habib realized that to free himself and his people from the oppression of the dictatorship, he had to escape Sitwe and pursue higher education else where. He later involved in a student movement organized by a professor which later led him to flee the country. The book includes his struggles to survive as an illegal immigrant in Thailand and Malaysia. Habib also shared his adventurous escapade to Australia, his time in detention center as well as his active participation for the freedom of his people through various reporters and organizations.
As the title suggest, Habib tells how the junta had planned and executed various operations to eradicate the Rohingya people from the list of official ethnic groups as well as from the face of the earth. Habib shares his owns experiences so that he can be the voice of his own people when many people in Myanmar and around the world failed to speak up for them. The writing and narrative is slightly odd in some chapters which might possibly be the poor translation. Regardless, this is an important book to learn and listen to the the voice for the Rohingya People who have been voiceless for several decades. 4.3 of 5. I read this book on @scribd.
October 6, 2024
Incredibly heartbreaking. A must read book for anyone who wishes to have a basic understanding of what’s happening to Rohingya Muslims.
I decided to give this book a 5 stars review not just because of the content of the book and how much it opened my eyes to what was and still happening to Rohingyas, but because it will help spreading awareness about the injustice and cruelty of such incidents took place to this minority.
It’s almost as if we’re living in a different worlds. It’s heartbreaking to know that some people fight for something as simple as existence.
Being Palestinian I could relate to the story a lot. But it made me realize that the occupation we’re under is almost nothing in comparison to what Rohingya Muslims have been through. The level of oppression and corruption and control over their lives is unforgivable.
“Despite all this, something changes inside me.
I have a status. I have been declared a refugee.
The persecutions I have suffered are now recognised.
I stare at the letter for hours.
I am under the protection of the United Nations.
I will exist.
Finally.”
To others success is to get a degree, to have your own business, to buy a house, make a family, to them it’s in existence.
I decided to give this book a 5 stars review not just because of the content of the book and how much it opened my eyes to what was and still happening to Rohingyas, but because it will help spreading awareness about the injustice and cruelty of such incidents took place to this minority.
It’s almost as if we’re living in a different worlds. It’s heartbreaking to know that some people fight for something as simple as existence.
Being Palestinian I could relate to the story a lot. But it made me realize that the occupation we’re under is almost nothing in comparison to what Rohingya Muslims have been through. The level of oppression and corruption and control over their lives is unforgivable.
“Despite all this, something changes inside me.
I have a status. I have been declared a refugee.
The persecutions I have suffered are now recognised.
I stare at the letter for hours.
I am under the protection of the United Nations.
I will exist.
Finally.”
To others success is to get a degree, to have your own business, to buy a house, make a family, to them it’s in existence.
December 14, 2021
"''You are adorable, my little Habib. I love you so much. But the Burmese regime find your lovely ebony skin, your thick head of hair, and your beautiful dark eyebrows offensive. They see you as too black. Too Muslim. Too Negro. Too different. A parasite, like the rest of us. They prefer to confine us to tiny spaces, ghettos where they can control and trample us underfoot, reduce us to slavery, humiliate us, and spill our blood. They are orchestrating our disappearance and we can do nothing to stop them.'"
These words from Habib's father at the beginning of the book have stuck with me throughout.
This is such a vivid and confronting account of what it means to be a Rohingya in the world we live in today.
And it terrifies me; that ANY minority can be persecuted for so long, so viciously and so publicly and yet struggle to survive, to even achieve refugee status? What happens when it's one of us, will no one be listening then?
I pray for more tolerant societies that accept refugees, for the individuals and organizations that put pressure on the people in power. I pray for every single Rohingya, or Burmese Muslim out there just scrambling to hold on.
These words from Habib's father at the beginning of the book have stuck with me throughout.
This is such a vivid and confronting account of what it means to be a Rohingya in the world we live in today.
And it terrifies me; that ANY minority can be persecuted for so long, so viciously and so publicly and yet struggle to survive, to even achieve refugee status? What happens when it's one of us, will no one be listening then?
I pray for more tolerant societies that accept refugees, for the individuals and organizations that put pressure on the people in power. I pray for every single Rohingya, or Burmese Muslim out there just scrambling to hold on.
June 10, 2020
I knew this would be tough reading, because I have had the privilege of sitting and listening to young men who had fled the genocide of Rohingya in Myanmar. But Habib's story has allowed me to learn so much more about the story of the stateless Rohingya.
I am blown away by the fact that this ethnic cleansing, targeted violence, murders, torture and systemic oppression has been going on for some 40 years! The racial targeting, the degradation of his cultural group. Habib and his family's story outlines all of this. It's harrowing - but so necessary to be told.
"I am 15 years old and wonder if I'll ever reach adulthood or if I'll be murdered first. So many young Rohingya men are disappearing. I try not to think about it."
Habib's journey from his village, through Myanmar, in fear, and then across the border and more fear and hardship. His tenacity and resilience is incredible - the drive to seek freedom to then help his family.
It feels like some of the emotional connection to the story is maybe lost in the translation, or perhaps given it's such a hard story, it was not safe for Habib to delve any deeper - he has given so much in sharing his story.
I am blown away by the fact that this ethnic cleansing, targeted violence, murders, torture and systemic oppression has been going on for some 40 years! The racial targeting, the degradation of his cultural group. Habib and his family's story outlines all of this. It's harrowing - but so necessary to be told.
"I am 15 years old and wonder if I'll ever reach adulthood or if I'll be murdered first. So many young Rohingya men are disappearing. I try not to think about it."
Habib's journey from his village, through Myanmar, in fear, and then across the border and more fear and hardship. His tenacity and resilience is incredible - the drive to seek freedom to then help his family.
It feels like some of the emotional connection to the story is maybe lost in the translation, or perhaps given it's such a hard story, it was not safe for Habib to delve any deeper - he has given so much in sharing his story.
February 5, 2024
While reading the book, I kept on thinking about the deepest fear/s and misery one can encounter and in the most non casual way, this book exposes those fears. Even with a singular perspective, the author manages to provide the minuscule as well wider details of the whole crisis.
An important read in terms of understanding the autocratic strategies and the earnestness of the community to survive and thrive.
An important read in terms of understanding the autocratic strategies and the earnestness of the community to survive and thrive.
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