Arabic version: أستراليون من الروهينغا يتذكرون الإبادة ويخشون على عائلاتهم

According to ABC News, Rohingya people rebuilding their lives in Australia continue to fear for relatives abroad, 10 years after a genocide that drove more than 700,000 people from Myanmar into Bangladesh.

Saddam Hossain fled northern Rakhine in 2017 after Myanmar’s military surrounded his village. He was shot three times in the legs while releasing his cows, then travelled for seven days to the Bangladesh border because he had to be carried. After four years in and out of hospital at Cox’s Bazar, he received a UN humanitarian visa and came to Australia.

Mr Hossain said he still carries the pain of what happened and remains worried about his brother in the Bangladesh camp. Community spokesperson Robi Alam said Mr Hossain wants Australians to know about the injustice suffered by his family and community, and wants justice.

Shofika Begum also arrived in Australia on a humanitarian visa after time in the Bangladesh camp. She said she saw members of her family killed when the military surrounded her village in 2017. Although she is grateful her children will not grow up in perpetual fear, she remains concerned for a sister and two brothers in the camp, as well as two brothers in Malaysia.

Mr Alam, president of the Rohingya United Youth Network, said many Rohingya people fear their identity is becoming extinct after decades of persecution. Community organisations are hosting a Genocide Remembrance Day event in Kingston in Logan later on Saturday.