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Floating Without Hope - The Rohingya Refugees

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Heart and Soul: Floating Without Hope - The Rohingya Refugees

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02/10/2015 GMT

BBC World Service - Heart and Soul, Floating Without Hope - The Rohingya Refugees

Jennifer Pak hears how Muslim refugees from Myanmar have been welcomed in Malaysia

Jennifer Pak hears how refugees from Myanmar, hope that the Islamic teaching around Ummah will mean they are given a haven from the traffickers and persecution at home

As the monsoon season comes to an end over the next few weeks, it is expected that boatloads of Rohingya Muslims will flee their home in Myanmar forced with other desperate refugees onto dangerously over crowded boats to find safety away from the majority Buddhists who have been waging a violent war against them joining the thousands who have already boarded dangerous vessels to escape thanks in many cases to the traffickers profiting from the shipping of this human cargo. 

They have landed in other south-east Asian countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Malaysia.
 
Jennifer Pak hears from the refugees in their new home, learning of their treacherous journeys and how their faith has helped them as they crossed the ocean. But she finds that many of the new refugees have not been welcomed by the Malaysian government who dont officially recognize refugees nor have they by the people of this Islamic country who largely don’t want them either. 

As she meet the refugees, she will explore how this sits with the Islamic idea of ‘Ummah’ that all Muslims are part of one body and if one Muslim is in need of help, then others in the faith should offer it. Is that the case as the world attempts to cope with the massive movement of people due to war and persecution? 

By meeting the refugees who have fled Myanmar and witnessing how they have been treated, Jennifer will hear claims that the idea of Ummah that traditionally binds Muslims around the world is being forgotten as more and more refugees seek shelter.

Producer and Presenter Jennifer Pak
Image of a Rohingya refugee boy studying the Qu’ran by Jennifer Pak

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