Rohingya refugee recounts escape from Myanmar seeking safety, hopes for family back home

Fleeing Myanmar and making his way to the United States, 19-year-old Noor Kamal faced death at the hands of the Myanmar government or the elements. Now he plans to pursue a better life in Spokane and find a way to support his family members and bring them here.

When he was in Myanmar, Kamal said his father had to flee to Bangladesh because he was being hunted by the government after an attack occurred at his father’s workplace where he made bricks. Drunken Myanmar soldiers residing at a camp nearby attempted to kill Kamal’s father and his fellow workers, forcing them to flee the country. They are still wanted to this day, Kamal said.

This left 9-year-old Kamal and his family poor with few choices. Kamal, the oldest of his siblings, had to work to help support his family. He worked in farming in the mountains and construction.

“When my country had huge problems, it started in 2012, people were not allowed to go one hour to two hours away for work,” Kamal said.

This restriction kept him from making money for his family.

Not only that, Kamal experienced abuse and harassment at the hands of the police.

“One time I went to a job, it was construction.That time in that day we were a little bit late. It was like at night, at 9 o’clock,” Kamal said. “And when I’m coming home, the police find me, and they ask me, ‘Where are you coming from?’ I said, ‘I’m coming from my work,’ and then they said, ‘You are not supposed to be out at 9 o’clock.’ And then they struck me and took my money. Thankfully they didn’t kill me.”

Usually the police would kill people, he added.

At some point, Kamal said the Myanmar government started targeting young people between ages 15 and 20.

“They killed a lot of my friends, my family, my brother, my cousin, and I was looking for a way to where I can save my life because if they kill me, my family doesn’t have anything. I’m the only one who worked,” he said.

In 2014, 14-year-old Kamal decided to leave Myanmar after a friend invited him to flee on a boat to a different country. After asking his mother if he could leave, she told him to go if it meant it would save him from being killed by the government.

Kamal said there were almost 1,000 people onboard, and it was impossible to move and sleep. The only time they could move about was to use the bathroom.

“When it’s rain, it’s rain; when it’s hot, it’s hot,” he said. “There was nothing to cover us, and then there was no food.”

The only food that they received was a bit of rice and a coffee cup of water, Kamal said.

The captains of the boat, who were from Thailand, took money from the refugees, despite saying they would not, and threatened them with death, Kamal said. Some people were killed because they asked for more water or food.

When they arrived near Langkawi along the borders of Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, Kamal said the captains left them because they said the Thai navy was looking for them. The refugees were left to fend for themselves at sea with no map, fuel or food.

They were rejected by all the countries they reached ashore, forcing them back into the sea each time, Kamal said.

One day after being rejected by Indonesia, Kamal said the boat began to sink. Many people, including women and children, drowned. Kamal was able to use a makeshift floatation device to stay afloat.

“I saw too many kids and a lot of people swim for 1 hour and 20 minutes and then they go down,” he said.

After swimming for what seemed hours, Kamal said he and others were found and saved by an Indonesian fishing boat. Other fishing boats were called to help survivors as well.

Only about 400 passengers survived, Kamal said. He said he was on that boat for three months and 17 days.

After being rescued, Kamal said he was taken to Indonesia and brought to a hospital. He spent two months and 15 days there. Sometime later, he said the International Organization for Migrants took them to a refugee camp.

When Kamal and others who were under 18 were asked by their hosts what they wanted for their future, he said they wanted an education and a better life.

“We didn’t go to school in Myanmar, because, in Myanmar, Rohingya cannot go to school,” he said.

He added that the Rohingya are allowed to establish their own schools, but they are too poor to build them.

Kamal remained in Indonesia before coming to the U.S. last year. Through Lutheran Community Services, and also with help from World Relief, he was placed in Spokane.

He is living with a host family and is a junior at Mt. Spokane High School, where he plays soccer. He plans to become a doctor after he graduates. He was looking for part-time work and hoped to send money to his family.

“When I graduate I will get a better job, a better life. I’m hoping to bring my family because I always miss my family,” Kamal said.

Kamal’s family is living in a Bangladesh refugee camp that Dr. Mark Finney and Jackson Lino from World Relief Spokane visited in March. The village was attacked by the Myanmar government, which resulted in 600 deaths, including of one of Kamal’s uncles.

Kamal said the Myanmar president almost agreed to bring Rohingya people back, but Buddhists nationalists kept it from happening and the Rohingya are not seen as citizens.

He said he thinks it will be five or six years before the Rohingya can go back to their homeland, but it would be very difficult if the government does not promise them their rights.

“If we go back to our country, we want our rights, we don’t want the same thing to happen again,” he said.

He said the government has to promise there would be no more killing and the Rohingya people would be given their freedom. However, he said he doesn’t think the president will ever agree to that.

Kamal has called what he and his fellow Rohingya people have experienced in Myanmar as genocide and does not plan to return to the country.