The Myanmar government had taken a scorched earth policy to remove the whole Rohingya community from Myanmar. In 2017, they started killing Rohingyas, burnt their houses, looted their belongings, and raped many women who later delivered an unwanted child in refugee camps in Bangladesh. It was a horrific situation that the Army conducted on the Rohingya community. The ethnic cleansing started in 1978 when a massive military operation named “Operation Dragon King” broke out against the Rohingya people. This unfortunate Muslim minor community had no citizenship of Myanmar and was not allowed to travel anywhere except for their allocated territory. They never attended high school, never had good health access, and never knew about birth control. As a result, rape victims were not aware of how to control these unwanted children. They had to become mothers of children stemming from rape. These women are now in a traumatic situation but are brave enough to unfold their identities to the world so that the world can stand beside them, and they achieve justice. This is an outright genocide that happened. Many people died and many are wounded severely. Many will not be able to continue their normal life due to experiencing the traumatic event in front of their eyes. Rape was deployed as more than a nuclear attack on Rohingya women – so that they can control the whole community socio-politically. Over one million Rohingyas are now living in several refugee camps in Bangladesh, and it is the largest refugee population living in a single country around the globe.
Biography of Mohammad Rakibul Hasan
Mohammad Rakibul Hasan is a documentary photographer and visual artist. He is currently pursuing an MA in Photography at Falmouth University. Hasan holds an Undergraduate Certificate in Higher Education in History of Art from Oxford University, pursued a Postgraduate Diploma in Photojournalism from Ateneo de Manila University, and also graduated in Film & Video Production from UBS Film School at the University of Sydney. He was nominated for many international awards and won several photographic competitions worldwide such as the Lucie Awards under the Discovery of the Year 2018 category. His photographs have been published and exhibited internationally. He is based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and represented by Redux Pictures, and ZUMA Press, USA.