Together, they grow

How an NGO rebuilds the lives of Rohingya refugees in the Indian district of Nuh

In 2022, more than 3,500 Rohingya refugees attempted to cross the sea in deadly boats which kept drifting on the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal for several weeks. The UNHCR reports show that this number is a 360% increase from the previous year. However, despite constant calls from UNHCR, the states around the region failed to rescue or resettle these people and many died of hunger and fatigue.

The journey of Rohingyas, fleeing from the Myanmar junta does not often end in freedom. Instead, they either end up in the camps of Bangladesh or India, cooped up in colourful sheeted tents with darkness and helplessness inside or in the deadly sea. Only a few escape to Australia, Malaysia, Singapore or the Middle East and survive as asylum seekers or refugees. And only a few among them like Habiburahman, who was a Rohingya refugee, running away from torture and detention in Myanmar from his childhood, could one day tell the stories of persecution and estrangement afar from his homeland as an asylum seeker in Australia.

In the Nuh village of India, one of these refugee children invited me into her bamboo-woven home along with her sister. Settling down her baby brother, she went on to take her colourful books provided by Miles2Smile, an NGO working to rehabilitate their lives. She crouched on the neatly laden cemented floor and started reading out to me. There were books on Mathematics, English grammar and religious texts as well. Another kid, Thasneem, a suave little girl was busy drawing pictures on my hands.

In 2018, the Niti Ayog, an apex body of the Government of India responsible for economic management found that out of the 739 districts, Nuh, in the state of Haryana is the most underdeveloped district of India in terms of health, education, agriculture and water resources. This rural region is also a Muslim belt with half of its population illiterate as per the 2011 census.

When a massive fire broke out and destroyed the tented Rohingya enclavement in Nuh on December 15 2021, hundreds lost hope for their stranded lives that they had once rolled back and hurdled from the borders of Myanmar. After one year of that unfortunate incident, 87 Rohingya families have been rebuilding their hopes from the settlements built by Miles2Smile, a Delhi-based organisation, run by a few egalitarian and dedicated minds.

Replacing the fragile tent covers, the NGO now has twenty settlement areas built for the Rohingya refugees, including five learning centres, where both Rohingya children and others from the marginalised sections come together in brotherhood to learn, help each other and grow together.

“If we don’t invest in education now, we face the very real danger of seeing a ‘lost generation’ of children, Rohingya children who lack the skills they need to deal with their current situation, and who will be incapable of contributing to their society whenever they are able to return to Myanmar,” says Aasif Mujtaba an IIT fellow and the Founder and CEO of Miles2Smile, at the Dignity day, launched on December 31, 2022.

Crisis and Negligence

For the Rohingyas in Myanmar, the fight for reclaiming their lost livelihoods and resilience against victimhood is not a feasible option. The Foreign Press is banned, no independent publications are permitted, and all information is subject to censorship.

India is not among the 145 countries that signed the 1951 Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol, relating to the status of refugees. However, the country has witnessed an increase of 8.7% in the total number of refugees in 2021 than in 2020. An estimated 40,000 Rohingya refugees live in and around India of which Jammu and Kashmir preoccupies the maximum number. In Delhi, official records show only 1,100 of them and there are only 16,000 UNHCR-certified ones in the whole of the country.

In October 2008, the UN Special Rapporteur on Racism condemned India’s decision to deport seven refugees back to Myanmar as a ‘flagrant denial of their (Rohingya refugees’) right to protection. Public Interest Litigations were also filed in 2013 and 2017 contesting the criminalization for illegal entry and the deportation of approximately 40,000 Rohingyas back to Myanmar from the country. 

Building the ‘Dreams come true’

As we arrived at one of these settlements, the children were seen running and calling out in joy, “Aasif bhai aa Gaya he.” (Aasif brother has come) The NGO is currently on a mission to set up an exclusive learning centre for girls within the settlement. At the back of this centre, there is a beautiful space thriving to develop into a garden and a separate room for the tutor and guests.

Miles2Smile runs five centres of learning including two Madrasas (Islamic learning) of which three within the settlements, host the refugee children and the rest where both the Rohingya children and others from socially and economically deprived families learn together. An Indian flag is seen swaying high in one of these centres that impart knowledge, discipline and also love and support in creating a sense of belonging. Both religious and academic subjects are included in the syllabi taught here.

However, Miles2Smile is not just an educational beneficiary. It has also been restoring their lost livelihoods, smiles and hopes for their futures. As envisioned by the UNHCR Refugee Education Strategy 2030, released in September 2019, Miles2Smile ensures an approach of inclusion where regional actors and host communities play an important role in harnessing and collaborating the education of refugee children on par with the National education system.

While the conversations on the ongoing project for a learning centre for girls proceeded, Aasif Mujtaba called out their names and jovially asked some of those kids, “Bolo, apko kitne lamba TV screen chahiye?” (How long TV screen do you need?)

As we had a second meeting inside another centre along with the representatives of the refugee community and discussed the requirement of blankets, the children were told to choose their favourite games and sports items for a future project to train them in Sports. The NGO team was trying to spearhead a Sports day for these students.

Manifesting Identity, Dignity and Refuge

 

These centres of knowledge and brotherhood are creating a safe space for them to retain their own ethnic and communal identity rather than uprooting themselves so as to be included in an alien land that criminalises the community and gives no legal or administrative provisions to accommodate them. Inclusivity should not be at the cost of the erasure of identities but at the same time create a safe space and awareness to collaborate, contribute and support each other to grow together.

David Edwards, the director of Education International (EI) says that there should not be any discrimination towards those seeking safety. In a way, discrimination can also come into existence with the erasure of memories, ethnic identity and forced closure of their native cultures. Therefore, retaining and sustaining their own cultures and communal values is important while protecting their rights and giving them equitable opportunities to thrive together.

When 2022 bid farewell, Miles2Smile observed a two-day long ‘Dignity Day’ to recognize the accomplishments and resilience of refugees. The event also held cultural performances of Rohingya children that brought back memories of their homeland and the Arakan ethnicity.

Promoting women’s welfare, creating awareness among the community, and ensuring a permanent source of income generation among the Rohingya are goals yet to be attained here. One of the women recollected that she loved to do handicrafts. And education is the primary act that provides a critical sense of normalcy for the youth and children confronting conflicts or had gone through them.