Rohingya refugees count their blessings

SELAYANG: Minara Begum, a 28-year-old Rohingya refugee, lives in a cramped 350sq ft house in Kampung Sri Makmur, Gombak, which is rented for RM400 a month.
The small quarters, which comes with one bathroom and a living room that doubles as a kitchen, serves as a haven for Minara and her eight other family members since they arrived in Malaysia three years ago.
Her husband, Muhamad Sayyat Alam, 32, is the sole breadwinner who collects scrap metal to support the big family, but times have been rough as he now needs to support his one-month-old child as well.
"My husband works every day without rest, from 6am until late at night, but he only manages to earn between RM800 and RM1,000 a month," Minara told theSun.
"With RM400 needed every month to pay the rent, we are only left with a few hundred ringgit to survive day by day," she said, adding that the family had to resort to borrowing money from others to live.
Kampung Sri Makmur is home to some 50 Rohingya families who fled Myanmar following decades of crisis between the ethnic Muslim minority and the Buddhist-dominated government.
This small community in Gombak is one of the many settlements of Rohingya refugees scattered around Selayang.
Another refugee, Muhamad Toyob Nurramad, 31, who is the acknowledged leader in the community, said most of the houses were rented for between RM400 and RM500 a month.
"We live at the mercy of the landlords, and we will be forced to move out if they say so. Life is indeed hard for most of us," he said, adding that he had heard rumours that the land would be developed for a housing project.
Asked whether he regretted coming to Malaysia, Muhamad Toyob said: "Living here is definitely not the paradise we had been searching for, but at least we are not constantly under the threat of death."
Many of the refugees theSun met were at their wits' end, with some being burdened with piling debts just to put food on the table and placing a roof above their heads.
Another refugee, Muhamad Toyob Nurramad, 31, who acted as a leader in the community said most of the houses were rented for between RM400 to RM500 a month from local owners by the Rohingya settlers.
"We live under the mercy of the land owners, and we will be forced to move out if they say so. Life is indeed hard for most of us," he said, adding that he had heard rumours that the land would be developed for a housing project.
Asked whether he regretted coming to Malaysia, Muhamad Toyob said: "Living here is definitely not the paradise we had been searching for, but at least we are not constantly under the threat of death."
Minara said her family braved the Andaman Sea by a small boat with limited food supplies to come to Malaysia after the Myanmar authorities razed their village in 2013.
"Coming here is the only option we had to escape the persecution in our homeland," she said, adding that she remained optimistic of returning home once the situation improves.