At just 18 years old, Shakeela Bi Bi carries the weight of a lifetime of loss and suffering. Born and raised in Kayang Daung (Shiddar Para) village in Maungdaw township, Rakhine State, her story reflects the brutal reality faced by the Rohingya people—marked by violence, displacement, and survival.
Shakeela’s father, Mohammad Kasim, now 75, was once a simple man, jobless but dutifully looking after a local mosque as a guardian. From two marriages, he fathered eight children: four from his first wife and four more after marrying Shakeela’s mother. Life in Rakhine had always been difficult, but their sense of community and faith held them together. As her elder siblings got married and moved to other villages, Shakeela stayed back, supporting her aging parents along with her younger sister Aasma.
However, as the political situation in Rakhine worsened, everything changed. Reports of massacres, village burnings, arrests, and gang rapes committed by the Burmese military and the Arakan Army (AA) flooded social media and conversations in the village. Their once quiet existence was overtaken by terror. Villages were obliterated, and those who could, fled across the border into Bangladesh to escape the violence. Shakeela’s married sisters were among the displaced, their homes destroyed as war ravaged their villages.
The conflict between the government military and the Rakhine rebels brought violence to every doorstep. Schools and madrasahs were closed, and Shakeela’s education was cut short when she was only in class seven. With no access to schooling and no hope for the future, Shakeela’s family made the painful decision to accept one of the many marriage proposals that had come for her. At just 17 years old, she was married in 2023, settling with her husband in another village. Though she began her new life, her heart remained with her frail parents and younger sister, trapped in a worsening humanitarian crisis.
For a while, her husband and Shakeela lived with a looming sense of dread. The violence escalated further, and their village became a battlefield. One day, the government military stormed the village, rounding up the men and boys to force them to fight against the AA. Though her husband narrowly escaped, others were not so lucky. Those taken away by the military never returned. Shortly after, the AA invaded the village, torturing and arresting Rohingya men and boys under the pretext of collaborating with the military.
As the violence worsened, Shakeela and her husband were forced to flee. Their village was attacked by drones, and many of their neighbors were killed. With nothing left, they moved to another village, but life did not improve. Food and medicine were scarce, and the AA imposed harsh restrictions, preventing anyone from leaving their homes. The rebels shot anyone found outside, compounding the already unbearable fear.
While displaced, Shakeela discovered she was pregnant. The timing couldn’t have been worse. She was eight months along and weakened by illness when they were once again forced to flee, this time to a forest. Without food or medical care, Shakeela’s health deteriorated, but the terror of being caught by the AA left them with no other option. They lived in the forest, desperate and hungry.
Eventually, families with some savings began fleeing to Bangladesh, paying boatsmen to cross the river under the cover of darkness. Shakeela and her husband had little to offer but her golden earrings—treasured gifts from her parents when she married. Desperate to escape, they bartered the earrings for a place on a boat. It was a stormy, terrifying night as they crossed the border into Bangladesh, arriving at Zadi Murah. In the morning, they reached out to her brother-in-law, who had already been living in the refugee camps for seven years.
Upon arriving at Hakim Para Refugee Camp (Camp-14), Shakeela was immediately admitted to a hospital. Tragically, her child, who she had carried through months of terror, was stillborn. The grief of losing her first child weighed heavily on her, but the overwhelming sense of relief that she and her husband had survived was undeniable. Though they were finally safe, they were still unregistered as refugees and had yet to receive any official aid. For now, her sister shares her rations with them, and they scrape by, grateful for every day they live.
More recently, Shakeela received word that her parents had also managed to cross the border into Bangladesh. After weeks of worry, she was overjoyed to learn they were safe, though they live in another camp.
Shakeela’s journey from Rakhine to Bangladesh is one of countless stories of Rohingya people fleeing violence and persecution. Her tale captures not just the hardship, but the resilience of a people determined to survive despite the impossible odds. Today, she lives with the hope that her family will one day be together again in safety, far from the terrors of war.
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