The Landscape Transformed: Courage and Structure
Editor’s Note
This is the fifth installment of Rohingya Khobor’s monthly series based on field experiences from the Rohingya camps.
In this installment, the author reflects on her work with Asia Justice & Rights (AJAR), focusing on trauma-informed and survivor-centered approaches to human rights work. Drawing on her experience in Community Learning Programs and creative methodologies such as the River of Life, mosaic work, participatory arts, and quilting, she explores how survivors can share memories of violence in ways that protect their dignity and reduce the risk of retraumatization.
The series documents lived realities from the ground, focusing on testimony, survival, dignity, and the relationships formed through long-term engagement with Rohingya communities.
by Luthfunnahar Shancyi*
Looking back at 2017, the images that come to mind are visceral and vivid—endless mud during heavy rainfall, cut hillsides, a lack of basic amenities including sanitation and water, hardly any pathways, and chaotic aid distribution with little structure. At the time, it seemed almost impossible for the Government of Bangladesh, the RRRC, and Camp-in-Charges (CiCs) to manage such an enormous crisis.
Between 2019 and 2021, however, the landscape underwent a drastic transformation. What had once been chaotic gradually became far more organized and structured. Sectoral coordination was formalized, particularly in the GBV and protection sectors; duplication among organizations was reduced, operational frameworks were streamlined, and infrastructure became better maintained.
This transformation did not happen overnight or by magic. It was made possible through international funding, multi-actor collaboration, and the sheer courage and dedication of thousands of national and international staff members. Alongside the refugees themselves, they helped transform a highly chaotic humanitarian response into a more orderly system. Yet the complexity remained in the lives of the people who were part of that system.
Beyond the Camp Walls: Exploring Multiple Layers of Reality
At this stage, my journey towards understanding the multiple layers of Rohingya reality deepened through my research experience with the Liberation War Museum’s Center for the Study of Genocide and Justice (CSGJ) and Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR). Through participatory action research (PAR), I sat with dozens of Rohingya survivors and listened to the realities that often remained unheard.
One might assume that the vulnerability of the Rohingya began when they were forced to cross into Bangladesh. But through PAR and my conversations with survivors, a different picture gradually emerged. There had hardly been a time in their lives when things were easy. For decades in Myanmar, the Rohingya had been denied some of the most basic human rights, including freedom of movement, freedom of expression, and access to education. Although some Rohingya men managed to receive an education, it was extremely difficult to find a Rohingya woman who had been able to attend university.
The Ethics of Memory: Healing Without Retraumatization
As human rights workers, we can become so caught up in collecting evidence for legal cases, international advocacy, and fundraising that we sometimes lose sight of the terrible impact of asking someone who has already lived through something horrific to retell it again and again.
Over the years, countless NGOs and international delegations have entered the camps and asked Rohingya survivors to tell their stories. I cannot help but feel deeply moved by how brave these people have been in agreeing to retell their tragedies repeatedly to strangers.
That is exactly why working with Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR) has been such an important experience for me. Instead of taking a cold, mechanistic, and extractive approach to trauma, AJAR’s work was rooted in humanity. Survivors were treated as more than mere “cases” or “data.”
Instead of relying only on conventional testimony-taking and direct questioning, AJAR used survivor-centered and trauma-informed methods that enabled participants to share their memories while reducing the risk of retraumatization.
River of Life: A technique based on mapping one’s life journey, helping participants place traumatic experiences within the broader course of their lives rather than allowing violence to define their entire existence.
Mosaic Methodology: A hands-on method in which participants work together with color, texture, and broken pieces to create collective artwork reflecting experiences, memories, and resilience.
Participatory Arts and Quilting: The use of traditional handicrafts, visual art, and writing to communicate emotional dimensions of experience that may be difficult to express through spoken words alone.
Participants repeatedly told us that they had never imagined there could be ways of sharing their experiences like these. For many, it was the first time they could speak about pain, dignity, and truth in a consensual way without feeling emotionally shattered in the process.
The Scribe of Smiles and Stories
While attending capacity-building workshops ranging from Community Learning Programs (CLP) and different modules to Training of Trainers sessions (ToT-1 and ToT-2), my primary responsibility was to serve as the session transcriber. Sitting quietly in those classrooms, my pen rarely stopped moving.
My notes were not confined to answers, legal facts, or formal discussions. I recorded precise wording, idiomatic expressions, silent pauses, reflections, sudden laughter, and smiles. I tried to capture the language of their strength and the small human moments that are often omitted from conventional human rights reports.
These detailed notes later formed the basis of a series of storybooks, graphic novels, and reflective publications developed with the expertise of AJAR. Contributing to bringing those books into the world remains one of my greatest professional achievements.
The First Learning Center: My Baby
Among all the structural interventions I experienced through my work with ActionAid, the Liberation War Museum, or Oddommo Bangladesh, none felt as personal to me as establishing a Learning Center in the Rohingya camps with AJAR in 2023.
It felt like nurturing my own baby. Together with the remarkable AJAR Bangladesh team, we worked on the walls, session plans, materials, and countless other details with our own hands, hearts, and hard work. Once the center began operating, the space came alive with laughter, conversation, creative activities, and the rustling of paper as participants reached for markers, straw-painting materials, and paints.
Since childhood, I had carried an unspoken desire to become a teacher. But my life took me into human rights, law, and development work, and over time I assumed that dream had become irrelevant. Becoming a facilitator with AJAR brought that childhood love of teaching back to me in one of the most fulfilling ways possible.
Designing session methodologies, planning icebreakers, facilitating interactive exercises, and leading reflection sessions allowed me to rediscover a dream I had almost forgotten.
Justice Decoded: “Now We Know”
Before the workshops, many young people and other participants in the camps had heard about the ICC, ICJ, and international justice through television, visits from foreign delegations, or conversations within the camps. They knew the terms, but often did not understand the processes behind them. That uncertainty could be deeply frustrating.
One participant in particular remains in my memory. During a session, he told me:
“We just heard that the ICC was going to give us justice, but we never really understood what the process entailed or why it was taking so long. All we understood was: wait. But now, now we get it.”
Breaking down difficult international processes—including the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, transitional justice, human rights protection, and anti-trafficking mechanisms—gave participants something more substantial than abstract hope. It helped them understand how these systems actually worked and why justice could take so long.
My experience with AJAR was so influential that transitional justice eventually became central to my own academic interests. I later wrote my LL.M. thesis on a topic related to transitional justice. For me, it was remarkable to see how an idea associated with international courts in The Hague could be translated into meaningful discussions inside a makeshift learning center in Cox’s Bazar.
Outside of the Sector: The Connection That Remains
My work in the camps between 2020 and 2024 has shaped me profoundly. The relationships built in these spaces do not simply disappear when a project ends or a new NGO logo replaces an old one.
Even today, when I walk through the camps, young people from the learning center and members of women’s groups sometimes recognize me from a distance. They approach me with warm and sincere smiles and say:
“O Apa! How happy we are to see you. We are so pleased that you continue your work in the Rohingya camps.”
These are the moments that make the difficult parts of the work worthwhile.
If the day comes when I leave the development sector or stop working with Rohingya communities, these are the memories I will carry with me. I will remember their hospitality, warmth, and respectful behavior.
There are many myths and assumptions about displaced communities. At times, tensions between refugee and host communities can also shape the way people perceive the Rohingya. But spending time with people, listening to their stories, and understanding what they have endured in their own country can change those perceptions. The Rohingya people I have worked with are also deeply aware of how much Bangladesh has done for them.
Reflecting in 2026
Sitting here in 2026, there are still days when I feel weary of this world. On those days, I can go to my bookshelf and pick up the small but powerful stories we published together. Looking through pages filled with colorful paintings, images of handmade quilts, and powerful words from Rohingya survivors grounds me almost immediately.
They remind me why we do human rights work.
Human rights work should not be about exploiting people’s pain to create headlines. It should be about accompanying survivors with humility, care, and respect. It means standing with people in their pursuit of justice while protecting their dignity, agency, and peace along the way.
Luthfunnahar Shancyi is a human rights professional with a legal background (LL.M., LL.B. Hons.) who has worked in the Rohingya humanitarian response since 2017. Her work has focused on gender-based violence prevention, protection, transitional justice, survivor-centered approaches, and community-based advocacy. She has also worked closely with Rohingya survivors through trauma-informed learning and creative methods designed to support dignity, participation, and safer forms of storytelling.
