鈥楬ope to move forward鈥�: One refugee鈥檚 story of resolve
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Howard LaFranchi Staff writer
| New Delhi
There was a point in Tasmida鈥檚 decade-plus-long odyssey from persecution in Myanmar to a cramped, stifling refugee camp along a sewage ditch in southeast Delhi when the aspiring human rights lawyer almost gave up.
鈥淎fter we arrived in Delhi there was a time when I felt no hope. I didn鈥檛 know Hindi, and the situation seemed very difficult,鈥� says Tasmida, who arrived with her family in Delhi鈥檚 Rohingya refugee community from Bangladesh in 2012. 鈥淏ut then I remembered that getting my education was the only way to improve our situation here and one day help our country. Then I felt sure again, and I had hope to move forward.鈥�
That hope, and a determination honed by a decade of overcoming obstacles 鈥� from learning new languages and surviving a devastating refugee camp fire to听facing听rising anti-refugee sentiments 鈥� have paid off.
Why We Wrote This
When we think of refugees, we often think of hardship, loss, and dependency. Tasmida鈥檚 story challenges that perception and underscores the talent and spirit refugees bring to their new homes.
In May, Tasmida became the first Rohingya refugee in India to pass the admission exams for university education 鈥� a make-or-break step for fulfilling the dream of one day practicing international human rights law.
鈥淚n one way I feel very happy鈥� about this accomplishment, says the young woman who goes by her first name and has no other name on her registration with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR. 鈥淏ut I also feel bad: We are many Rohingya refugees in India, and many have been here longer, so why haven鈥檛 others had this opportunity before now?鈥�
The new face of refugees 听听
Tasmida is one of听an estimated听40,000 Rohingya 鈥� a Muslim ethnic minority the Myanmar state does not accept as citizens 鈥� who are making India a tenuous home.
And she is just one of the more than 70 million displaced people around the world, 26 million of whom are refugees.听They include roughly 6 million Syrians and more than 2 million South Sudanese displaced by their countries鈥� civil wars, 4 million Venezuelans who have fled their country鈥檚 collapse, and more than 1 million Rohingya who, like Tasmida鈥檚 family, have been听forced out of Myanmar.
The figures for the world鈥檚 displaced, released this week as part of UNHCR鈥檚 , are the highest in the UN agency鈥檚听almost-70-year history. The number of refugees alone is estimated to be up more than half a million over 2017.听
Yet while the international image of the refugee may often be one of听hardship, loss, and dependency, Tasmida鈥檚 story听challenges that perception听and underscores the talents and spirit that refugees contribute to their new homes.
As听the international community听observes听World Refugee Day Thursday, Tasmida鈥檚 story is also a reminder to the home countries that refugees have fled of the wealth 鈥� in human spirit, talent, and entrepreneurship 鈥� that those countries听have lost.
Indeed, this year a number of international organizations and cultural institutions are highlighting refugees as contributors rather than a burden to the human family.听
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is featuring art by refugees while shrouding a work by one-time refugee Marc Chagall, to symbolize how the world would be a poorer place without refugee artists.
The Tate听will use its four听galleries听across the United Kingdom to showcase works by artists who fled conflict and persecution.
And the International Rescue Committee, a global organization that responds to humanitarian crises with the goal of helping people rebuild their lives, has turned its celebration of this year鈥檚 World Refugee Day into a multimedia thank you to refugees, including Albert Einstein, Elie Wiesel, and听Freddie听Mercury, for their contributions to听the world.
Nurturing others
Tasmida, a modest young woman who favors a black听abaya听and speaks softly, would never think to place herself in a league with Einstein. And yet in her own small way, she has demonstrated that she knows not just how to take advantage of the opportunities presented to her, but also how to give back.
She has inspired other girls at听Hope鈥檚 Flight,听the nonprofit she frequents in Delhi鈥檚 Kanchan Kunj neighborhood, an after-school study and empowerment program sponsored by the Texas-based Children鈥檚 Emergency Relief International (CERI). The program aims to give Rohingya children a leg up (by learning Hindi, for example) and keep them in school.听
Following in Tasmida鈥檚 footsteps, other girls at the one-room Hope鈥檚 Flight center have recently passed exams allowing them to move on to higher grades.
At her home constructed of bamboo poles, castoff wood, cardboard, plastic sheets, and tarps in the 50-family Rohingya refugee camp in the Kanchan Kunj neighborhood, Tasmida shows her friend Zuara her thick law studies book, the title 鈥淟LB鈥� emblazoned on the cover in giant letters.
Just a day ago Zuara, another Rohingya refugee pushing forward in India, received word of her acceptance to move on to grade 11.听
鈥淲e see a lot of intelligent kids here, but the way Tasmida has not just focused on her own studies but has nurtured the others is really remarkable,鈥� says Nadeem Khan, an early-childhood听education听graduate student working at Hope鈥檚 Flight.
Discouragement, and determination听
The details of Tasmida鈥檚 15-year trek from Myanmar, through Bangladesh, to India, where she is now preparing to听enter university听in New Delhi,听make her journey and her听desire to contribute all the more remarkable.
Tasmida was a young girl in Myanmar when her father, a businessman with a small hotel and a river transport service, began experiencing repeated shakedowns and detentions at the hands of police. With abductions of Rohingya women increasing, her father decided Myanmar was no longer safe for his family. In 2005, they left for Bangladesh.
In听the coastal city of听Cox鈥檚 Bazar, Tasmida settled in to learning Bangla to go to school. But by 2012, with more Rohingya pouring into Bangladesh and conditions for refugees worsening, Tasmida鈥檚 father decided once again it was time to move, this time to India, where the family had contacts in the New Delhi Rohingya community.听
For Tasmida, another move across a national border meant another language to learn if she wanted to stay in school. But Indian schools wouldn鈥檛 admit her because she lacked Hindi and necessary documents. Her neighbors scoffed at the idea of a poor immigrant girl staying in school.
That is when Tasmida almost decided the obstacles were just too much. She dropped any effort at learning for six months. But then she had something of an awakening.
鈥淚 knew our situation was not good, but I also knew that education was the only way to bring change 鈥� so how was I helping if I stayed out of school?鈥� she says.
Tasmida鈥檚 rekindled determination was met with new opportunities 鈥� admission to a local charitable school for girls, Hindi classes through UNHCR, CERI鈥檚 after-school and empowerment program in her neighborhood. Even a fire last October that destroyed her refugee camp, including her family鈥檚 home, did not dampen her spirit.
Her law textbook under her arm, India鈥檚 first Rohingya college student says her dream is to return someday to Myanmar as a human rights lawyer.
In the meantime, she has a message for the millions of young refugees like her around the world: 鈥淧roblems will come, but don鈥檛 stop anyway,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd when an opportunity comes, don鈥檛 wait. Grab it.鈥�
