Jul 16 2015

Saiful Huq Omi: “The Photo Activist”

by Billy Kung

Saiful Huq Omi is a young Bangladeshi photographer who has, since 2005, emerged to become one of the most dedicated documentary photographers in the field. His work covering the plight of the Rohingya refugees from 2009 onwards has helped immensely in drawing attention to perhaps one of the most persecuted and abused Muslim ethnic minority group in the world today.

Born in 1980 in Bangladesh, the Dhaka-based Omi grew up in a family surrounded by political activities. His father was a professor at the University of Dhaka and during the height of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War—which lasted for eight and a half months—the university was at the center of many political activities. Stories of the war and the loss of some of Omi’s immediate family members had been sown deeply into the mental fabric of a young child at an early age. Over a recent telephone conversation with me, Omi relayed how his parent’s teachings had always placed an emphasis on the value of social justice, and never on the importance of having a house or other material needs. In 2005, after he finished his Masters in Engineering he decided to take up documentary photography. When asked why he chose documentary photography and not commercial or advertising photography, his reply was: “I want to tell stories through my pictures and hopefully they can bring about changes. I am more of a ‘photo activist’ than simply a photographer.”

In truth, Omi’s interest in photography began during his time as a university student before he took the leap which turned into a full time dedication in 2005. His early project titled, “Heroes Never Die: Tales of Political Violence in Bangladesh: 1989-2005” won him the All Roads National Geographic Award in 2006. Three years later, in 2009, he began his long-term project on the Rohingya refugees upon an invitation from a member of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to visit Kutupalong, one of two camps in the south-eastern district of Cox’s Bazar that was holding more than 32,000 Rohingya refugees. “I started going there every day, and not really taking any photographs. Initially, I just wanted to observe and talk to some of these refugees and listen to their stories as much as I can,” said Omi as he recounted those early days. “A number of my extended family members became refugees in 1971 after the war, so I can really empathize with some of their stories.”

The Muslim Rohingya people reside in the Rakhine state of present-day Myanmar. Originally of Bengali descent, the Rohingya population settled in the country at least a century ago, although some researchers speculate possibly far longer. However, in 1982, when General Ne Win’s government enacted the Citizenship Law of Burma, the Rohingya people were denied their citizenship rights and almost overnight they were thus stripped of their nationality and rendered stateless. In the eyes of the Buddhist dominated population this further reinforced the already existing notion that the Rohingya people do not belong in Myanmar, referring to them as Bengalis. Furthermore, with this government policy, which borders on the bizarre, to qualify for even just a second-class citizenship, the Rohingya people are forced to provide proof of family residency for at least the past 60 years. The minority group also face further discrimination as they are not allowed to vote and barred from entering professions such as medicine and law.

Sectarian violence against the Rohingya began in the late 1970s but gained international media attention in 2012 following the Rakhine State riots which left tens of thousands of Rohingya being displaced in Myanmar, and many more thousands forced to flee. It is not difficult to comprehend why the Rohingya would desperately seek a way, by any means possible, to leave the country—when their own government decidedly isolates this ethnic minority, denies its members of their citizenship rights, forcing them into refugee camps, turns a blind eye as ethnic violence targets them and ultimately pushes to drive them out of the country. Even if escaping Myanmar requires paying human traffickers to smuggle them on boats at extortionate prices to countries that may deny them entry, they are still willing to take that risk. Migrants often travel first to Thailand by boat, and then continue overland to northern Malaysia, while some go further south to Indonesia via the waters of the Strait of Malacca and the Andaman sea.

In May of 2015, as hundreds of Rohingya refugees desperately attempted to reach Malaysia, the Malaysian Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, insisted that they stay away. In a public statement, as reported in several news outlets including The Guardian and ABC News, the Deputy Minister stated: “I would like them to be turned back and ask them to go back to their own country.” The problem, he fails to recognize, is that the Rohingya have no country to call their own.

When Omi began photographing the plight of these dispossessed people, little did he know then that this was the beginning of a six-year-long photographic project, which took him to Malaysia, Thailand and Bradford, England. The resulting work is a powerful testimony to the hardships and desperation the Rohingya were confronted with on a daily basis. In the opening image for this blog post, a large number of refugees sitting in broken boats were being pushed back to the sea by the Bangladesh Border guards after their failed attempt to land in the dark of the night. The photograph is heart breaking. The central figure in the frame is desperately scooping water out of a rickety half sunken boat while other refugees looked on helplessly. The act portrayed in the image carried an almost comical futility bordering on the absurd, and when it was discovered later that 132 died after this picture was taken, I was almost overtaken by a sense of irrepressible indignation.

On one occasion while working inside the camps, Omi was asked by UNHCR to conduct a project to teach photography to teenage refugees and he gladly accepted. “I came from a family of teachers and I have heard stories from the children that touched my heart, but I did not know at the time that this experience would plant a seed in my heart for something to follow up on,” he explained over the phone. In 2012, that seed took on the shape of the beginnings of a photography school in Dhaka, called Counter Foto, and it has since published the first photo periodical written in Bengali. Courses range from basic to advance, it has a one-year diploma program, and an international master class as well as workshops conducted by working professional photographers and artists in their chosen fields. It has become such a success that Omi said in just two and a half years the school has taught over a thousand students spread across three campuses, two in the area of Dhaka and a third in the port city of Chittagong. A fourth is in the planning stage to start in Kolkata, India. A photography festival akin to the annual Visa pour l’Image Perpignan—albeit on a much smaller scale—is scheduled to take place in November of this year.

In addition to being a still-photographer, the multi-disciplinary Omi has also worked as a producer and director for film and television. In 2012, he worked with Al Jazeera TV and produced a television documentary on the Rohingya titled “Hidden Genocide”, directed by Phil Rees, which had garnered much praise and recognition internationally after being aired in January 2013. In the meantime, however, the problems concerning the future of the Rohingya continue unabated. It is disconcerting to discover that as a model of political courage and a well known democratic voice of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi—daughter of the late General Aung San—has resolutely refused to address the issue notwithstanding thus only further exacerbating the isolation of this group of neglected people.

After the June violence in 2012, a large number of refugees started to come to Bangladesh. In mid June, 137 of them were caught by the Border Guards of Bangladesh as they were trying to get into Bangladesh during the Dark Nights. In the next morning, they were pushed back to the sea, using these broken boats. 132 of them died within hours of the push back on the sea as their boats were sunk. Courtesy the artist.

An eight-year-old girl crossing the border fence of Bangladesh and Burma. Her aunt was gang raped by the security forces three days ago and her family felt no more safe in Burma. Eleven of them came and started to live in the unregistered camps from the day after. Courtesy the artist.

When it rains in the unregistered camps, the walkways become little rivers. And when it rains too much, then there is a risk of landslide. But the Rohingyas do not have any other place to go. Courtesy the artist.

Many children are born and bought up in the camp. But they are born as citizens of nowhere! They are neither Bangladeshi nor Burmese.
Courtesy the artist.

After collecting wood from the nearby hill, a Rohingya refugee makes his way back to the camp. Courtesy the artist.

The ground water level is a big problem in and around the Nayapara camp. As a result water supply is quite irregular in the camp. A man digging a well to get some fresh water—he has to dig deep. Due to lack of natural water sources in this camp, water is distributed through open taps in this camp two times a day, early in the morning and late afternoon. The Government of Bangladesh has agreed to allow for excavation of a water reservoir. Courtesy the artist.

Tayeba Begum lived in the UN registered camp. She wanted to save her daughter from her perverted stepfather. He tried to rape the 12-year-old Shahara Khatun several times. Failing to do so, Abul Khaher took revenge. He stabbed Tayeba seven times.
Courtesy the artist.

Ali Mia suffered from an “unknown” disease. When he went to the hospital the doctor simply said, “We do not have any treatment for you. But if you can go to London then they might help you.” Ali Mia came back to the camp and waited to die. He had no medical assistance or medicine for months. Within 24 hours after the image was taken, Ali Mia died. Courtesy the artist.

When asked what she thinks about today’s situation of the Rohingyas and what would happen in the future, Khadija Begum looked up and said “Why do you ask me, ask him (God).” Courtesy the artist.

Now there are medical centers inside camps. Though it cannot be said that the medical support is up to requirement, still this is where the refugees come when they need treatment. Courtesy the artist.

From a five year old to ninety year old, from girls to boys, man and woman everyone takes bath in the public bath in the unregistered camps. Courtesy the artist.

For the unregistered refugees, one way of living is to collect the young shrimps from the sea and sell it to the local shrimp industry. If they are caught during the work, they will definitely be arrested and imprisoned for indefinite period for working illegally. Courtesy the artist.

The unregistered refugees are not allowed to work officially. But they work, because they have to. The employers take this opportunity to exploit them- a Rohingya man will always be paid less than the Bangladeshi worker; sometimes they are paid even half of the amount. Courtesy the artist.

A Rohingya worker in an ice factory in Cox’s Bazar; the tensions between the Bangladeshis and the Rohingyas are growing. Bangladeshis would always complain that Rohingyas are “stealing” their job. Courtesy the artist.

Just a week before this photograph was taken, in late 2014, Saydul Islam came to Malaysia by boat. He still has nightmares and still finds it difficult to live a normal life after the treacherous journey he took. It took them almost a month to complete the journey from Burma to Malaysia. He had to spend a week in Bangladesh before he got onto the boat that took him to Thailand and he stayed for days in the camp before he finally managed to get into Malaysia. Courtesy the artist

It has been many decades that Rohingyas are a stateless community, be it Burma be it in Malaysia, they are not considered to be legal citizens of the country. As result, the children that are born in Malaysia are born as children of “nowhere”! Courtesy the artist.

Rozia Begum, a ten-year-old playing with the window curtain. She was born in Malaysia as a stateless person. Courtesy the artist.

For a Rohingya child, Bradford is a wonderland! It is more a dream than a reality when they compare their lives with the lives they had in the camps. These are the luckiest children among those hundreds and thousands living inside and outside the camps in Bangladesh. It is like winning a lottery for the Rohingyas to get the opportunity to get resettled in the west. Courtesy the artist.

“You have been to the camps, don’t you? And you have seen our kitchen! Now we have this. Whenever I think of all these, I thank Allah for the life I have now.” Aiub—a resettled Rohingya in Bradford. Courtesy the artist

Fahad was born in Bradford on August 10, 2009. By birth he is a British citizen. He is the first Rohingya child in history to be born having a foreign nationality. His father is very proud of him and says, “I do not have a nationality, but my son has. Nobody in the world could treat him the way I was treated simply for being a Rohingya from Burma.” Courtesy the artist.

The first marriage between a Rohingya woman and a Bangladeshi man in Bradford—the husband is said to be an illegal worker. By getting married to the woman, he is confirmed to have a legal status. And the Rohingya community is very skeptical about the marriage, they deeply fear that once the husband gets his legal status he would leave the wife and get married to a more beautiful Bangladeshi girl. The husband has paid all the cost of the marriage, which is again just the opposite of what usually happens in a Muslim marriage. Moreover it is said that he has provided fat cash to the family of the bride. Taslima, the bride is an orphan and his uncle raised her. Courtesy the artist.

Billy Kung is photo editor at ArtAsiaPacific.