Only education can fight Islamophobia: Rohingyas

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Only education can fight Islamophobia: Rohingyas

Myanmar's Rohingyas, mainly Muslim minorities, have faced persecutions in their country for nearly 40 years.

By Sarwat Nasir

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Published: Sat 23 Mar 2019, 9:40 PM

Last updated: Sun 24 Mar 2019, 12:41 AM

Education is the key to tackling Islamophobia around the world, young Rohingya refugees have insisted during an education summit in Dubai. 
Ahmed Ullah, a 25-year-old from Rohingya, was speaking at the inaugural day of the Global Education and Skills Forum (GESF) in Dubai, where he shed light on the work he was doing to help the Rohingya refugees in Canada. 
Myanmar's Rohingyas, mainly Muslim minorities, have faced persecutions in their country for nearly 40 years. Hundreds of thousands have fled to Bangladesh, especially in 2017 when ethnic cleansing rose significantly. 
Ullah was born in a refugee camp in Bangladesh in 1993 and lived there for the first 15 years of his life. During that time, he did not have any access to education. The Canadian government granted him and his mentally ill mother an asylum in the country.
"For the first 15 years of my life, I was working in a coffee shop. I was sponsored to go to Canada at the age of 15 where I now live and study. Now, I fight for the rights of Rohingyas to go to school and get educated," he told Khaleej Times. 
Ullah first worked as a translator in Canada for other Rohingya refugees, then he produced a theatrical show called 'I Am Rohingya', where the violent scenes and real-life stories of refugees were re-enacted. Later, he produced a documentary of a similar nature. 
"We also formed an organisation called Canadian Rohingya Development Initiative. It is focused on bringing awareness and sharing the Rohingyas' stories," he said. 
"Muslims are often portrayed as terrorists by the world, but that's not the case. People need to see who the Rohingyas are. During 40 years of genocide, not a single Rohingya revolted. Yes, in 2017, a few Rohingyas attacked back and that caused a massacre and over 750,000 people fled to Bangladesh. You won't hear much about that in the world."
Another young Rohingya, Zainab Arkani, shared how she managed to complete her higher education despite the discriminatory and systematic challenges that she and other Rohingyas faced in Myanmar. After her studies, she helped Rohingyas in Thailand, who were growing up illiterate as they had no access to education due to lack of proper documents and financial difficulties. 
Later on, she moved to Canada and started the Rohingya Language School.
"I opened the school in 2011 because there is a dire need for education. In Canada, when new refugees arrive, they are put into classes according to their age, but these kids never went to school. For example, if they are 14 years old, they are placed in Grade 9, but these kids haven't even ever learned their alphabets. The parents are also illiterate, so they can't help either," she said. 
Arkani added that educating people about Islam can help put an end to Islamophobia and "senseless persecutions of Muslims". 
"Mutual respect can help tackle Islamophobia. If they have open minds and educate themselves on the religion, they will have a clear information on what Islam is. They need to interact with more Muslims and get accurate information."
In New Zealand this month, 50 Muslims were killed during Friday prayers in a mass shooting. 
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com

'Social media, video games fuel gun violence'
Lack of communication with students, as well as addiction to social media and video games, is what is contributing to increasing gun violence in schools, US teachers have said. 
Educators of US-based schools spoke at the Global Education and Skills Forum, where they addressed how they were tackling the issue of gun violence in their schools. 
The US is facing a major challenge with an increase in gun violence within schools. On February 14, 2018, there was a mass shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 students and staff members died. One of the survivors, Sydney Aiello, took her own life this week due to post-traumatic stress disorder. 
In 2012, a total of 27 people died at the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
Nadia Lopez, school principal of the Mott Bridges Academy and founding member of the National Coalition of Safe Schools, spoke about her experience, noting that her school is located in a neighbourhood that has nearly 40 different gangs.
"Part of the issue is that we're not looking at what's going on with people themselves. A lot of it has to do with values, self-esteem, feeling hurt and accepted. Social media becomes a community and that's not what people are really paying attention to. This need to be liked, to be accepted in the world - so what we put online gets us likes and makes us feel good, but when that doesn't happen, we don't feel good," Lopez said. 
"Just imagine when a child goes to school: Online, they may have a lot of posts and people are liking it, or they have a community of like-minded people. Then, they go to school and they're not part of a clique, it makes them feel that they are not accepted, which causes depression, creates doubt, makes them angry. "Then, they play these games and they see the players reacting violently to things, it creates a shift in their brain where they start to believe that it's the only way they can be heard."
Lopez said her students face life-threatening situations when they go to and from their school because of the gang-related activities. Another teacher, Brian Copes - a founding member of the National Coalition of Safe Schools - said placing metal detectors outside of schools is not a sustainable solution to gun violence. 
He said figuring out why violence is happening in the first place. "Collectively, we are not only concerned with solving the gun crime problem, we are also looking at the fundamental question as to why these crimes are continuing to happen. I won't pretend to be an expert on the topic, but I also don't want to sit back and wait for someone else to do something about the problem. 
"In the US last year, we averaged one school shooting per week, and they are happening everywhere, both in the countryside and in the city - this is real tragedy," he said. 
"We're not going to solve the problem overnight but, at least, we can collaborate - one such example being the establishment of the National Coalition of Safe Schools. Prevalence in the US is most definitely driven by our constitution and our citizens' right to own arms. But on top of this, the situation is becoming more complex globally, in part due to the growing popularity of violent video games."
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com


'Terrorists to blame for illiteracy'
Terrorist organisation Boko Haram continues to be the reason why parts of Nigeria remains illiterate as they are stopping access to education, the former president of Nigeria has said.
Speaking at the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai on Saturday, Olusegun Obasanjo said there is clear evidence that Boko Haram is to blame for the illiteracy rates in parts of Nigeria.
Boko Haram, which translates to 'Western education is forbidden', is a terrorist group that operates in Northeastern Nigeria and other parts of Africa, including Chad and Niger. They made worldwide headlines and brought on international campaigns, such as 'Bring Back Our Girls', after they kidnapped 276 Chibok schoolgirls in 2014. Most recently, they killed 23 Chad soldiers. They are terrorising these regions with a mission to "purify Islam".
"There are still parts of Africa where education has not increased. In my country, for example, we have six geopolitical zones and the three southern ones has a literacy rate of more than 90 per cent. In the northeast, it's only 53 per cent. So, imagine the gap," he said.
"In the northeast, you have Boko Haram. When you look at education there and the menace of Boko Haram, education has something directly and indirectly to do with them. Education is very necessary in all other things - your employability, life expectancy and your management of your family.
When your education is poor, your chances of employability is also poor.
"When you don't have employment, your life becomes almost a waste because you can't look after yourself. That's where I say that popular education and education is all. There is no country in Africa today that should fail to give access to education. When you have education, you can live your life to the fullest."
He said Nigeria currently has a population of about 200,000 people and that is set to double by the year 2050. "What do we do with that if we don't educate them?" he added.
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com


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