- More than 15000 Rohingyas fled Myanmar recently and now they are staying in refugee camps
- These new arrivals that don’t have any support from any sides
Hameeda, a survivor of gang rape by the Arakan Army (AA), is a 22-year-old woman from Shidapara village, Maungdaw township. She fled with her two children and youngest sister, Hameera. Now they are staying in a temporary shelter at Camp-16 in the world’s largest refugee camp.
On the evening of the attack, around 4:30 PM on 5th August , AA forces entered her village. While many villagers escaped, Hameeda’s family was trapped due to their proximity to the main road. Approximately 30 AA members entered her home.
“I recognized them by their uniforms and language,” she recalls.
In a short time, the AA surrounded the house. Hameeda’s husband and her youngest sister with two children managed to escape but her parents, eldest son, three brothers, younger sister, and herself were trapped inside. Hameeda describes the attackers as “criminals with weapons and machetes.”
The AA first captured Hameeda’s parents and brothers, then entered the kitchen where she and her sister were preparing a meal. Four AA members seized her younger sister and sexually abused her in front of Hameeda. When Hameeda screamed for help, her parents and brothers tried to intervene but were killed in front of them. After that, her sister became unconscious. The AA then turned to Hameeda, tying her up and raping her one by one. She was screaming for help but none was there to save her from them. Then her husband returned home hearing the cry for help and fought the AA but was ultimately killed.
Hameeda says, “I didn’t realize how badly I was hurt until I saw the dead bodies of my family.“
Around 6:00 PM, military forces arrived in our village and engaged in a brief firefight with the AA. Then the AA fled taking my sister, Hadesa with them. Hameera gathered the surviving children from another house where she was hiding with them and returned to her home, where she found the bodies of her family members. and the laid body of her sister. With no one to help her, she carried her sister to Feyzi village with the children where she encountered many others fleeing to Bangladesh.
Hameeda and her family crossed the border by boat, arriving in Bangladesh with other survivors. She recounts the harrowing journey, including seeing many dead and injured people along the way. Upon reaching Bangladesh, they were held by boatmen until they could pay a fee for their release. A kind stranger from the camp paid 45,000 taka for their freedom, and they were brought to Camp-16.
Now they are orphans, Hameeda and her children are struggling to survive in a small, overcrowded shelter. They lack food, clothing, medical care, and assistance support. The trauma of their experiences has left them mentally and physically unstable.
Hameera says, “I can’t sleep at night because they appear in my eyes all the time.”
This is the tragic story of a family torn apart by violence and forced to flee their home. They have endured unimaginable suffering and continue to face immense challenges in their new life as refugees.
Note : Their full video interview will be released soon! And the faces of the victims are not shown for their security and privacy.
Story and photographs by : Ro Yassin Abdumonab
