ISTANBUL EXHIBITION SHAVES ROHINGYA’S ORDEAL

Istanbul, 26 Ramadan 1436/13 July 2015 (MINA) – Using art to raise awareness about the oppressed Rohingya Muslims, an American award-winning photographer holds an exhibition in Istanbul to offer insights into the plight of the religious Muslim minority in Burma.

“Inside Burma [Myanmar], the conditions the Rohingya live in are quite like apartheid… They are confined to one geographic area; they can’t come, they can’t go… They receive very little medical assistance or education for their children,” Greg Constantine told Anadolu Agency on Sunday, July 12.

Titled, Exile to Nowhere, the exhibition displays a collection of photos reflecting the suffering of Rohinya Muslims in the Buddhist-majority country. OnIslam quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Gathered form Constantine’s 12 visits to Burma, the exhibition was previously held in Washington, Bangkok and Geneva to shed light on persecution and abuse faced by Rohingya Muslims.

Starting his first visit to Rohingya communities in Myanmar’s volatile Rakhine state in 2006, the American photographer later made eight subsequent trips to the area.

“I was so shocked by the situation that the Rohingya were living in there,” says Constantine, accusing the international community of paying little attention to the community.

“I knew it was a story I want to dedicate a lot of time to.”

Described by the UN as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities, Rohingya Muslims are facing a catalogue of discrimination in their homeland.

They have been denied citizenship rights since an amendment to the citizenship laws in 1982 and are treated as illegal immigrants in their own home.

The Burmese government as well as the Buddhist majority refuse to recognize the term “Rohingya”, referring to them as “Bengalis”.

Rights groups have accused the Burmese security forces of killing, raping and arresting Rohingyas following the sectarian violence last year. (T/P007/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)