Afrida Ahmed

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have been arriving in Bangladesh with minimal belongings they gathered in a last-minute rush, reports BBC. They say they had to flee to save their lives from assaults by the Myanmar military and the majority Buddhists population claims the government denies. The BBC’s Shalu Yadav and Neha Sharma met the refugees in unofficial camps and asked them about belongings they were able to bring and those they had to leave behind.I had two hours to pack all I could, our houses were being set on fire said one of the Rohingyas. Asiya Bibi shows her face powder, foundation, eyeliner, bangles, to the reporter. Rehena shows rice, torch, and oil for her mother’s headache and Noor Mohammad tells us that he has cash with him. One of the Rohingya said that their house was set on fire by military. One of her brothers got burnt to death and that moment broke her heart. She was thinking that what should she take with her and what were they going to eat?
Noor Mohammad also experienced his story. He is old and unable to walk so he couldn’t carry anything except for some cash in his pocket.
Asiya Bibi said that she loves doing make-up so she brought these things with her. While there is some comfort in these small possessions, the grief for all they left behind is profound. One of the Rohingyas had bought gold to be used in our difficult times. She said that when the mobs came, she buried the gold underground and fled. She said it breaks her heart to think that now in her bad times she does not have that gold with her. So how will she survive? Mobs were killing everyone so she couldn’t bring her favorite yellow dress with her.
Noor Mohammad said that he left everything behind but the dearest to him was his cattle. He raised them like his own children and he misses them a lot.