My life journey

I was born in Myanmar, in a very beautiful village where there were hills, rivers, farms, and other natural beauties. My life was peaceful until I was 8 years old. I spent my childhood happily there. I studied grades 1 to 3 in Myanmar.

But in 2017, due to the Myanmar military's cruel operations, I had to flee to Bangladesh. Not only me but also nearly 1 million Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh as genocide survivors. Many people were killed and murdered by the Myanmar government. At that time, as a child, I didn't even know what peace and hardship were, so I wasn't unhappy. As I grew older, I began to understand what peace was, where we were, what happened to us, and what the Myanmar government did to us.

I lived in the Bangladesh refugee camp, also known as the largest refugee camp in the world, for about 6 years. During my six-year period, I studied middle education from Rohingya teachers. But after finishing middle school, there was no high school. And my parents aren't able to spend money for me to get higher education by going to another country.

In the Bangladesh refugee camp, there are many robbers, mafia, gangsters, and many others. No one can live safely. And the Bangladesh police also arrested many people without reason. Even they arrested two of my uncles; one has been released after 6 months, and another one is still in prison. To live in the Bangladesh refugee camp is very scary and unsafe.

I decided to come to Indonesia to get a higher education and to live in a place where we can live without any doubt and freely. I left Bangladesh on November 22, 2022, with a fishing boat. It was the biggest risk I have ever taken in my life. Our boat engine was damaged on day 7, and we had finished all of the food on day 19. On day 15, we found a fishing boat, and we told them everything about us. Then, they gave us all of their food, but they didn't help us to get to the shore. We finished all of the food on day 28. Luckily, we found a ship that helped us to reach the shore.

In our terribly risky journey, we spent 41 days in the Indian Ocean. We couldn't eat anything for more than 10 days, and 24 people died.

After arriving in Indonesia, the people of Indonesia helped us from every side. They responded to us very gently and let us live in a camp named Mina Raya since we arrived. Now, we have been living here for nearly 2 years. But there's no opportunity for education and no freedom. I expected that I would have learned higher education in Indonesia, but now my expectation isn't true. I hope one day I will get everything I expected. 

Written by: Muhammad Fahad