I would really appreciate more objective historical information instead of the sob story of one man and his family, which I have no means of verifying. Whatever happens in Myanmar is the result of its history. I have a very rough idea of the clash between Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam that has been going on for centuries in this part of the world, but I don’t really know any details. I’d count on the respectable publication such as the NYT to provide the historical background. The article says that the Muslims are persecuted because they sided with the British during the war of independence. Is it true? Are the Rohingya really from Bangladesh? What kind of Islam do they profess? Are they Sunni? Are they influenced by pan-Islamist ideologies of jihad? Does their culture have any common points with the Buddhist culture of the majority in Myanmar? Did Muslim insurgents really attack army posts? All these things are important. Nothing justifies murder of civilians but in order to solve a political problem, the world needs to understand its origin. Knowledge is power. A tear-jerker story is the cheap consolation prize for those who are too lazy to grapple with the real complexities of history.
13
Thank you, Sarah Topol, for educating me on the plight of our Rohingya Neighbors, and for enabling Futhu's unbelievable story to come alive to me, and millions of us.
Here in my super-safe, small American city where silver flatware was once made, our parish priest wore a black stole today, to enlarge our view of our recent American self-carnage (Gilroy, El Paso & Dayton, to pray together, and to strive for a better, safer, more loving world.
Tonight, my prayers for peace are stronger and more fervent, thanks to your superb work. Your writing gave me a yearning to learn more. More about Myanmar, more about the Rohingya, more about Futhu and his resurgence for his quest. Would that his story go viral, that his people not vanish from this Earth, that your work brings more reality to our hearts, our minds, and our immortal souls, regardless of our faith.
Would that I could nominate you for a Pulitzer for bringing the Rohingya Story to life for me, for us. Thank You. May your work continued to be blessed, and may we each find our way to creating peace, respect, harmony and love among & between each other.
24
Brilliant, poignant article, Sarah. Thank you thank you thank you.
9
The writer should’ve proud of what she’s done here. Futhu, stay strong!
13
How do we contribute to the schools that Futhu builds?
18
Please tell Futhu that I hear his story and that I, an American, believe he and his people deserve their identity and their freedom. The Rohingya have suffered and deserve better.
11
Please spare a thought about the indigenous people in the Middle East who have been able to prove their residency in one locale, for example the Bidoon people in Kuwait.
They were not given Kuwaiti passports, but given passports purchased from an African country.
Futhu's story is similar to that of non-Muslims in Islamic nations.
Sad Sad Sad!!
10
Taking a people's identity is how they subjugate them ; what a sad and nightmarish story . My heart goes out to Futhu and the Rohingya ; and this is a constant the world over , the Yazidis in Syria , the Tutsi in Uganda , the muslims in Bosnia , Sunni and Shia , man's inhumanity towards others . All in the name of religion ; the Buddhist monks have blood on their hands . Why , why , why ?
17
So much like the Jews in Europe: prohibited from most jobs, attacked frequently in pogroms, treated like dirt.....in Germany in the mid 19th century the government still required a License (bribe) for Jews to marry.
Hard to believe, though I certainly do believe it, that Buddhist monks were behind so much of the hatred against the Rohingya and in some cases even led the mobs that killed and raped them.
What will become of these people? Where can they go? Tragic.
18
NYT and Sarah Topol – thank you for this sad story. If only the UN could stop country after country oppressing minorities, or perceived minorities, and shunting them aside, or forcing them off their homeland into spaces not of their choosing. If only.
12
What a devastating story. Thank you to Sarah A. Topal and the brilliant Futhu for sharing this story of the Roghngya exodus/expulsion/ attempted "genocide of the mind and identity" of a people. How shameful of Myanmar to continually deny the humanity, legal, national, and property rights of their country-people not to mention rape and murder. The ability of Futhu to create schools and opportunities for his people out of nothing speaks to a deeper intelligence and leadership ability that any nation worthy of the designation should cherish rather than oppress. If we had real leadership here, we would offer asylum to the Rohingya.
22
How can we help with at least money to help repair the school that he is teaching at in the refugee camp? How would it get to the right people to make those repairs?
12
@Paula There are organisations helping the Rohingya. Here's an article from 2017 that might help. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/29/world/asia/rohingya-aid-myanmar-bangladesh.html
1
The dehumanization and slaughter of the Rohingyas is appalling. Is there not somewhere these innocent people can settle peacefully and permanently? Have any applied for asylum in the US? In Europe? Anywhere? To force them to live for years on end in squalid refugee camps is not a solution.
How can their murderers and tormentors get away with what they have done without facing arrest and trial for crimes against humanity? They are as bad as Nazis because their persecution of the Rohingya people is based solely on their identity and religion. How has this genocide escaped the notice of the rest of the world?
I am beyond saddened by these events and do not understand the hatred. At the same time, I am very impressed by this man's bravery and perseverance in the face of incredible odds and horrendous conditions.
Excellent article. It held my attention from the first sentence to the last. Congratulations to the author for her reporting on a very complicated and difficult subject.
26
@CountryGirl:
and the Myanmar leader during that time received the Nobel peace prize!
3
@CountryGirl
From what I have read elsewhere, Rohingya men went to Saudi Arabia for military training and then returned to conduct operations.
Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States hire many foreigners on short term contracts to fill all kinds of jobs, ranging from menial to professional work. Why don’t they invite the Rohingya to permanently move to their countries and take some of the jobs?
2
This information breaks my heart. I'm an American and I don't know how to stop this sort of hate even here in the US.
A few years ago, as part of my work, I met a businessman from Singapore. After a wide ranging discussion about our lives, the subject of Myanmar came up. He was extremely disparaging of the Rohinga, stating they were bad people, criminals. He defending their persecution. I was shocked.
I simply don't know how to make a difference with this.
14
@EnJay I guess you start by sharing your story. It makes me think of being at the farmer's market yesterday in Helena, where a group of us recruited people to make cards for the kids in the immigrant detention centers down south. A few people spurned me with such bitterness and hate about "those people." I see how it can happen here.
9
@EnJay
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/29/world/asia/rohingya-aid-myanmar-bangladesh.html
I know it's from 2017, but these organisations are reputable (UNICEF, Medcins Sans Frontieres, etc.), so, if anything, you can contact them to check how and where you can help. I just googled, "Helping the Rohingya" because this article brought tears to my eyes and found many sources.
4
How can we help? I have been trying to contribute through donations to a few of the very few NGOs able to maintain a presence and monitor what is happening both in the Bangladesh camps and among those still trying to survive in Myanmar but I would like to learn more. The NY Times coverage of these people’s plight has been exemplary. I first began to learn about it from Nicholas Kristof’s column. So thank you New York Times for helping the world be aware of genocides in our time. Amazing reporting and writing.
26
There are many many many INGOs working n Cox’s Bazar. Not hard to find and most are doing stellar work.
6
@Victoria Vincent:
you do have to be very careful about any charities.
In a famine in India, most of the money for food was stolen along the way...look for the Navigator symbol at the bottom of the page of any charity. It means they have met certain standards.
4
@Victoria Vincent
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/29/world/asia/rohingya-aid-myanmar-bangladesh.html
UNICEF, Medcins Sans Frontieres, etc. are definitely safe bets.
3
“Never again” is a lie. How dare we stand aside and let this happen.
Please tell us, what can I, as an individual, do to help?
19
@Juden
Write to your congresspeople. Tell them we NEED, urgently, to increase the number of refugees we take in - and they should come in with a path to citizenship if things don't turn around quickly back home.
13
Mr Futhu, really you are a real Hero in this cruel situation of the world. I also visited Rohyngia camp, heard many stories from your community's people. But your life story from this article has made me cry.
23
Thank you, Sarah, for this very important and detailed profile of the events in Myanmar/Bangladesh.
The genocide against the Rohingya people requires the International Criminal Court taking steps to issue arrest warrants for those involved, going all the way up to the military and civilian leadership. Given Britain's historical role in the problem, the UK needs to facilitate a refugee program, allowing Rohingya to voluntarily resettle in the UK. Other wealthy Commonwealth nations should follow, here I am thinking of Canada and New Zealand. Bangladesh is a very poor nation, and whilst it has the duty to protect the well-being of all the refugees, it must be supported. Wealthier nations need to begin to offer refuge to the 700,000+ Rohingya who have fled clear, present and targeted persecution, genocide and crimes against humanity. The United States should allow for refugee resettlement, but I am not hopeful under the current administration. The UK government is nationalist, yet the historical connections to the crisis remain. Canada and New Zealand are the best candidates to open their doors to voluntary refugee resettlement. At the same time, the Burmese leadership needs to come under unrelenting pressure to end its genocidal policies.
32
This is a good example of the evils of denying a peoples’ group identity. Remember that next time Ta-Nehisi Coates talks about “people who ‘consider’ themselves to be white.”
12
@Jon: Where are these white people that are being burned, raped, and dispossessed of their land by governments?
Spare us the false equivalencies.
15
@Lmca South Africa.
5
My heart is utterly broken upon hearing about the Rohingya's plight. The extent of their suffering is unimaginable, as is the realization of the evil that humans are capable of bringing upon each other. I am praying for the Rohingya- for their security, for justice, for comfort- and once again moved to find ways to donate for education efforts, housing and aid. This IS our problem, and I desperately pray that our next president will take human rights seriously and work to find diplomatic solutions together with the U.N.
15
This is a story about a government who under new leadership...
Brooks no criticism.
Makes blatantly false public statements.
Demonizes those of other cultures.
Puts the others in detention camps while trying to deport them.
Allows no free press.
Punished the educated.
Empowers the advantaged and disempowers the disadvantaged.
If Trump’s attention span was log enough to read this story, he would recognize his vision for America.
20
I thought Donald had asked Jared to solve this problem? If not, I am sure it is something he could look after in his spare time when he is not working on the Middle East Problem. And of course this article should be read in conjunction with the Ben Rhodes article that just appeared in The Atlantic, "What Happened to Aung San Suu Kyi?" These two articles make for sad and disheartening reading, and of course, the future of these poor people and the lack of anyone doing anything for them.
17
@William Migicovsky-Indeed.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/09/what-happened-to-aung-san-suu-kyi/594781/
4
This article prompted me to do more research on the contradictions in Buddhist Nationalism and Buddhism that has been brought to the West- which I thought was all about peace and no killing... I came across this article and thought others might be interested in reading it. https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-east-asia/myanmar/290-buddhism-and-state-power-myanmar
11
I’m ambivalent at best about such “reporting”.
By diving so deeply and intimately into one man’s inevitably one-sided and unverified account, stated as fact without any qualification, we lose all trace of the bigger picture, reduced to an emotional speck pushed back and forth by the story.
This is not conducive to rational decision making, as attested by many commentators proclaiming their pouring tears.
The Rohingya language and genetic composition is closely related to Bengali and of course so is the religion. Like Jinnah incisively pointed out in a related context, they have diametrically different ideas about practically every aspect of life, whether reproduction, education, diet, the position of women, morals etc from the Burmese. For these communities to live in the same country is to expect a Hipster and Taliban or a Maoist and a free trader to live as roommates.
Given this, it is certain that endless conflict will ensue. Is it not best that such contrasting nations live separately, like India and Pakistan? If peace is desired, then the Rohingya should stay with their Islamic compatriots in Bangladesh. Anything else will guarantee religious bloodshed.
11
Ok, perhaps: Unless the people in both (all) of these backward cultures get a proper education. Your consignment of humanity to endless tribalism ignores the slow disappearance of tribalism that has been happening world wide for centuries.
10
@Tark Marg
Yes of course we expect them all to live as roommates, as in this country in my experience they do with great energy. We are all roommates on this ball of dirt; borders of all sorts are fairytales made up of delusion created by fear. We have much more in common than anything that might separate us. Stop being so afraid.
31
@Myles:
In your own country racial educational and socioeconomic divergence and consequent polarization supports my point. If loudly self proclaimed white liberals in progressive USA are mostly self segregated from blacks, then isn’t this an indication of their implicit recognition of my point?
I’d agree that tribalism is diminishing and that’s broadly a good thing. In my view the size of a polity is inversely proportional to cost of communication and transport, so the falling price of these makes for a more global community, but there are plenty of exceptions, and to make a shibboleth out of egalitarianism with no heed to the actual facts risks plunging one into very sticky situations.
If and when various communities do converge in the important attributes, then they’ll start mingling happily without sanctimonious liberals who don’t have to live with the consequences pushing them together.
1
Thank you, Futhu, for sharing your story. I consider myself a writer, and yet I have no words to describe how I feel, and no words that could make much of a difference, but I’ll try anyway. The world is reading your story now. Your diaries may have been destroyed, but you are still a living testament to your experiences. The students you are working so hard for will remember your efforts when they take the reins.
Thank you Sarah and Adam. I am a photographer in my college’s newsroom and I admire your amazing work.
27
Thanks to Sarah Topol and Adam Dean for their good work.
Futhu, thank so much for sharing your story, please know that you all are not alone. I have always believe that educators are the seed of a better future and the light that keeps anyone in moments without clear visibility, I know that for sure. Thank you for being and moving on, you are an inspiration. I am from Latin America and here there will always be an empty notebook for you and your people to celebrate better times. With respect to all of you, a big hug from Latin America.
Thanks to the journalist, for her amazing and respectful work by giving voice to those who educate all of us at a distance.
Abrazos Futhu,
Sachi and Em
27
Hi - what's the best way to help - who or what organizations are best to donate money too? Thank you for writing about this.
36
The suffering of Futhu and his people is huge. Both the ARSA and the buddhist extremists are motivated by religion, sure their religion is the only correct religion. People must have rights outside of their religious and social identity. These problems are also caused by overpopulation. Everyone's share will diminish as more and more people fight over what little is left.
8
How can I help? How can we help? I have no words to explain how I feel. Please let Futhu know I am thinking of him, his family, and the Rohingya people. Thousands of people will have read this story by now and have him in our thoughts. I wish I had profound words of strength to say but i have none. I am ashamed of the life of freedom and luxury I take advantage every day when there is so much suffering. Again please let us know how we can help. Thank you.
42
Thank you Futhu for sharing your story. You are heard.
I have worked often in Myanmar. There are wonderful people. And there is a lot of hate and suffering and terrible racism. When we hear your story, we become more human. I am heartbroken. I hold in my heart a vision that the Rohingya will be able to return to a safe home.
24
Thank u, Futhu for sharing your story with us. It should be required reading for American officials, especially for Sec. of State Mike Pompeo and his boss. Mr. Pompeo has described the atrocities committed against the Rohingya as "ethnic cleansing" rather than genocide. And at an Oval Office event held last month to recognize victims of religious persecution, Mr. Trump turned to a Rohingya genocide survivor and asked where Myanmar was located.
32
@Frank J. Perez, except for certain particular acts of violence, it does more closely fit the model of ethnic cleansing than of genocide, the point is to drive the Rohingya out of Myanmar. Ethnic cleansing perpetrated in a widespread and systematic manner is a crime against humanity, so it's hard to see what you find wrong with saying that. After all, in order to prove ethnic cleansing, you need to prove that there was an effort to move the Rohingya out of the country, which even the Tatmadaw admit to. To prove genocide, you need to prove an intent to destroy in whole or in part.
So until there is a court of law to adjudicate the necessary mens rea for genocide, it is far more accurate to use a term that accurately describes what happened without pretending the mens rea has been proven.
3
@Frank J. Perez:
remember Trump also asked the young Yazidi woman who had survived the genocide and rape of her people, including all her family "where are they now"?
3
Thank you for this article, thank you for sharing Fathu’s story. Your voice is being heard, Fathu, don’t give up on your voice and on your power to educate and change people’s minds.
21
I consider myself well-read but did not know about the Rohingya. Thank you for educating me.
But as I read the story, I recognized so many parts of it, genocide that has been committed all over the world, by different names. "Manifest Destiny" in the USA; ethnic cleansing in Germany are two that quickly come to mind. I truly wish that there was something we could do for Futho and his people, even as I am writing to politicians and sending money to help people in my own country who are wrongfully imprisoned because they don't have a safe country to live in. We all live on this ball of dirt, don't people realize that what they do to the Rohingya might be done to them next? Or their children?
22
The origin of the Rohingya crises are British colonialists. who imported them from Bengal (part of the British Empire) to Burma (part of the British Empire) as cheap labour (on British owned farms) over the objections of the Natives.
"1927, immigration reached 480,000 people, with Rangoon exceeding New York City as the greatest immigration port in the world. This was out of a total population of only 13 million"
The equivalent would be the US importing 12 million cheap labour a year.
As in Palestine, the UK rode roughshod over the wishes of the native population
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohingya_people
8
"Futhu’s grandfather explained that when the Japanese invaded Arakan in 1942 during World War II and battled the British in the mountains, the fighting did not touch the people of Dunse Para. His grandfather never told him that when the war broke out, the Rohingya and Rakhine took opposing sides. These communal strains would reverberate through generations."
It was not because the Rohingya and Rakhine took opposing sides that communal strains happened, nor was that the motivating factor for the violence that killed tens of thousands of Rohingya and Rakhine in 1942. Just once, it would be nice if the New York Times' journalists went far enough into their "backgrounder" paragraphs to actually uncover truth, instead of publishing and perpetuating inaccuracies and falsehoods.
At least Ms. Topol isn't babbling about 8th century Arab traders like the NYTimes' other journalists. But what happened in 1942 had local roots in land ownership and British prejudices with respect to choosing local leaders, and that in turn sat on animosities and rights of return and other roots that pre-dated their 1824 invasion -- itself due to the Konbaung attempts at expansion.
There was an invasion by the Moghals in 1667. It was a response to Arakanese slavers raiding the Bengal coast. It forever changed the region by splitting Chittagong from Arakan. And you could go further on the origins of that invasion. How arrogant to think it all had to do with a war the British were fighting.
13
@ondelette point taken, but there is only so much space in the magazine, and there are fewer and fewer outlets for this kind of investigative reporting . We could all use to understand a bit of of world history but there is only so much time and space. Do you agree that the story at least gives an accurate depiction of yet another mass genocide happening in our world?
16
@ondelette that is obviously the perspective from a man who is putting his and his families understanding of what happened. Secondly, I believe it was mentioned in the begining that this history went much further back than that war. A follow up piece containing the factual history would not be a bad addition however.
10
@Amber, I think so, a follow up with factual history would be wonderful. We can start with the Indian Ocean slave trade, and its client, the Ottoman Empire. Arakan was like the Vikings were to that trade, and the Moghal emperor wasn't upset that they were slaving, he was upset that unlike other slavers, they captured Muslims as well as "Coffry" (Kafirs -- non-believers). Since they couldn't sell the Muslim slaves to the Portuguese and French who were running the slave markets in the Macarenes, they kept them as farm labor.
The Arakanese market was in Chittagong. So Jahangir's armies laid siege to and took Chittagong from Arakan in 1667, which went into decline, and was overrun by the Konbaung in 1787. The displaced from that overrun by the Bamar returned to no land after the British took Arakan from the Konbaung in 1824. Then the British, who were interested in production and mercantile profit, imported people, many of them Indian Muslims (from modern Bangladesh but also from southern India). That set up a second set of grievances over land and political rights.
By the time 1942 rolled around, the place was a powder keg. The British withdrew their soldiers but soldiers sold their weapons into that powder keg. Tens of thousands of Rohingya and tens of thousands of Rakhine died.
Very little of this was originally about religion. It was about land and secular political power.
But neither side nowadays finds it useful to know that.
8
Thank you for this article. It is well-written, detailed, and fascinating coverage of a story I have never understood. A case study of how crazy, violent, and simply mindless humans can be toward others. I have really never understood the situation with the Rohingya, and the roots of the bigotry and hatred against them. Now that I have read this story, it seems even more mindless and ungodly.
22
I’d like to point out the role Facebook played in fanning the flames - perhaps even igniting the worst of the violence. You ask what we can do? Aren’t we the best positioned to rein in the pestilence of social media we have unleashed on the world? To address with creativity and a heavy sense of culpability the decline of empathy that’s correlated with these despicable tools?
17
@Emily-Facebook should be held to account. At minimum, is it to much to ask for them or their wealthy billionaire founder to make reparations?
4
I have been following the Times coverage of the persecution of the Rohingya for these several years, but Ms. Topol's account really humanizes the story. The USA has the power and resources to restore them to their homeland, but this won't happen unless we displace Trump and the GOP from Washington.
14
All this was happening when Obama was the president as well. And he didn’t do anything about it. Not a Trump fan but it seems like everything nowadays is blamed on him. Call it ethnic cleansing or genocide, those people are not treated like human beings and ordinary citizens like us are left wondering about what can be done to stop it. Starting with Saudis (who have the money and political power to help their Muslim brothers and sisters, busy killing Yemeni people), developed nations such as US, and most European countries, (useless) UN, no nation is feeling the need to interfere. All that’s left is for us is to feel powerless, ashamed, and heart broken.
1
Articles like this are why the NYT is America's newspaper of record and why my irritation over @failingnyt's Trump obsession doesn't lead me to cancel my subscription. Wonderful piece.
16
I'm making my way through this article but I want to add my voice along with the other comments - really beautiful writing that is impressive in its ambition to match and honor the majesty of the subject and topic.
20
Thank you to Futhu for having the courage to share his story, to Sarah Topol for treating his tale as sacred and to the NYT for providing the resources and space for such a story to be shared with the world. I really am speechless at the inhuman things we humans do to each other, and I'm heartbroken for Futhu, his family and his community. If there is something concrete we can actually DO to help this refugee community, please let us know!
33
Mr. Futhu, thank you for your resilience, your compassion, your strength and your unwavering hope! You are not alone, and thanks to your resilience we have heard your words.
We, like you, agree that a child’s mind is the most important part of our heritage. It is where the future lies and where hope springs eternal. At least that’s what I’ve been taught. I have lived in peace, in security, with a well established family history, never an outcast in my home, so I cannot presume to understand the depth of your despair, but I hear you and I extend my love for you and the people you love and care for. Thank you for your humanity!
14
As I sit here in New York City, reading over lunch, bathing in security, comfort, and prosperity, I am moved to tears.
47
This made me think of the people of Gaza. The world watches them being starved and ripped to shreds by bombs and military rifles and shrugs its shoulders. While the Rohingya's plight has not gotten as much attention, the idea of humanity abandoning them to their fate as described in this searing article must be more common in this commodified global culture than we can imagine. What will finally do us in? Catastrophic climate change or our casual inattention to the brutal suffering of our sisters and brothers, which degrades our humanity so as to be meaningless.
39
@Cloudy-Add in the people of Yemen, who've been victims of Saudi and U.A.E. slaughter abetted by the U.S.
8
The appalling genocide of Fuhtu’s people has a precise parallel in the history of the United States’ treatment of indigenous groups. To this day, our government attempts to divide Indian groups by giving some of them recognition and refusing recognition to others. Forced relocation, rape and murder, every atrocity that rulers have ever used to wipe out whole civilizations, are our historical legacy. Attempts to destroy language, and attempts to tell people they never existed, continue to this day. We must not forget; we must not assume that these are things that happen far away from us. They are deep in our history and they contribute to the racial and ethnic violence we experience every day.
36
This article describes the future tense of Trumpian politics.
“You do not belong here.”
Limits on family size.
Camps.
Hopelessness.
Fear.
We know what we must do before it’s too late.
32
I can never understand where the moral self-righteousness of Americans come from. In your own country, you are fervently deporting the mainly hispanic illegal immigrants. This is what the bastion of human rights with a 20 trillion Dollar economy and ample territorial space has decided to do by popular vote. And you dare demand poverty-stricken Myanmar to accept their "illegal" immigrants? Did it occur to your thick head that you are asking them to do something that would be dogmatically rejected in America?
Do you Americans wax poetry about the hispanic child that "...read a story about a girl who named her flowers. She wrote their names in a diary, logged when she planted and watered them and charted how they grew"? Of course not. You view them as anchor babies and job stealers.
I am not debating the merits of immigration or helping people. My question is how can you be so sick in the head to demand people outside America to do something that most Americans would vehemently reject at home? What is going on in your brain that causes this contradiction? Thank you.
12
@John Doe
The election in 2020 will provide the answer to your question about our “thick heads”. I pray you are proven wrong- by a landslide.
I guarantee an early death for myself, should you be proven correct. The mental genocide will kill this old tired woman!
8
@John Doe - WOW, powerful. Thank you for pointing out the hypocrisy.
I too wonder what is going on in the brains of some of my fellow Americans. I have no answers. When I ask, its all about their 401k's doing well and illegals getting stuff they aren't entitled to, like healthcare. When I ask if they would like people to die in the street if they are sick, I don't get an answer. When I ask if they want to live in a Charles Dickens world, I get a blank stare. And guns...its guns too. I don't understand what is happening in my country.
9
This article is in the NY Times, which has consistently stood in opposition to Trump's racist and xenophobic policies. You seem to be conflating the NYT with Trump. They are poles apart.
7
I visited India for 5 months in 2015. The poverty and backwardness of this country are astonishing.
People there can’t feed their own families. The suffering slams you in the face from day 1. After this visit, I no longer romanticize about third world cultures. They are not a post card come to life. They are people who are always hungry, who have no healthcare, whose villages have open sewers, who do not have clean water. The debris from “littering” is 18” deep at the edge of every road in towns. No trash cans like America.
There was no Lady Bird Johnson in 1964 to launch a “Make Asia Beautiful” campaign. Elderly widows and children are dispatched to beg in the streets as a source of income for their families. Meanwhile women have no birth control and have a baby every year of their childbearing years. Women in India have the lowest postpartum weight of any country in the world...why?...because in Indian culture, Daddy eats first, then the parents of Daddy and Mommy, then the children eat. Guess who eats last....that’s right....Mommy (who cooks) eats last.
If you love picturesque, stick to photographs. Avoid real people. Their suffering, not to mention the suffering of emancipated cows, who eat garbage because the peasant families abandon them when they stop giving milk...that suffering will be what you remember. And...eeew....we don’t kill animals in the Indian subcontinent...we just let them starve to death or be killed by packs of feral dogs.
12
I don’t know if you even read this article. If you did, how could you post something that is nothing but vicious screed about India? What does your experience of India have to do with this genocide against the Rohingya? When you talk about romanticizing other cultures, are you speaking about your own past fantasies that were spun from an armchair in suburbia? Do you think the rest of the world is simply a backdrop for your selfie’s? Please, find some way to tap into even a faint shadow of compassion for other people.
14
@Claudia, I guess people see what they want to see.
3
This beautifully written article is about the Rohingya and Burma not Indian trash cans.
14
I am sobbing. For humanity. For my useless life. For I cannot do anything to improve life for anyone diminished in their humanity here in my own country, much less anywhere else on this god forsaken planet. Genocide of the mind... indeed! I will gladly give up any space I take on this earth for any of these refugees.
22
I have been following these events for some time. This piece makes it all so real-the details, the delving into into Futhu's life. I am so sorry. I wonder if there is a way to help build the school in the camp. I want him to know we have read this article and care- and his voice is heard. Thank you to Sarah Topol and the NYT and Futhu. I hope there is a follow up that addresses how we may help. Thank you.
56
I have been following this story since its beginning in 2017 through the excellent coverage in the NYTimes...this is great writing. But what is the solution? The Rohinga aren’t welcome in either Bangladesh or Myanmar currently. The UN Refugee organization is managing to feed and shelter them but the UN needs to actively pursue the genocide charges, and quickly—these people do not have 20 years to wait for the conclusion (How long did it take to pursue charges against the Serbian military? Decades, I think.)
37
I am speechless. Ty for this article.
16
Is there a way that readers could donate to the school Futhu wants to build? Or could the Times do an follow-up interview with Sarah Topol, where she tells us how best to help?
105
Hearing Futhu's personal story of the Rohingya genocide is extremely chilling. The trauma he endured throughout his life in Danse Para is unfathomable. We hear you, Futhu and recognize your bravery.
31
Please tell Futhu we are thinking of him, his family and his village. I live in Hawaii. Tell him his story has reached that far. That the world is hearing his story. Tell him there are good people in the world. Tell him anything that might ease his soul, tell him so many people in the world are so sad to hear his story. Tell him we wish we could somehow help. Tell him there is compassion for him. Tell him that this morning I cried for him.
82
I haven't read something so well written and so moving in a long long time. Thanks to the NYT and Ms. Topol for bringing attention to the suffering of the Rohingya in such a masterful way.
69
Incredible trauma. This article puts a face to the suffering we have seen in the photographs and the explanations. Nothing prepares you for the type of trauma that these folks have witnessed. We are now experiencing this type of hate at our southern border. God help us
28
God bless Futhu and the Rohingya--may they find a future and peace for their children.
38
Yes. "...a genocide of the mind." This is the new frontier for war: to kill people by killing their minds. This is an excellent article. It is universal, this horrid story. Let us be wise and start to protect the mind as well as the body. Right now. Right here in the United States. And across the world.
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@Anne-Let's also hold to account Facebook and other social media outlets that allowed their networks to be used to gin up fear and hatred. At the very least, Zuckerberg could contribute money to Futhu and to the Rohingya who have been harmed to the point of genocide.
9
This is an immense, affecting story. Thank you, NYTimes for this most important work. Futhu, we readers have become your witnesses.
51
Pulitzer for this.
I will not stop thinking of this piece, which has illuminated humanity's capacity for hatred and inhumanity, as well as its capacity to take root again in order to survive, dream and be reborn.
Who among us has Futhu's courage?
122
With this article, the writer and photographer have been faithful to their relationship with Futhe and his community. It's no small thing - and about the only thing of value - in the midst of such chaos and terrifying violence. Like Futhe's strength to continue on, perhaps their article and faithfulness will contribute to others helping to sort out the chaos and to some part of healing.
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