After losing his home and a brother during the 2017 violence, Hamid Hussain became involved in humanitarian service and human rights advocacy. He says that continuing this work has exposed him to abduction, violence and repeated threats.
By Susu Win
When Hamid Hussain arrived in Bangladesh in 2017, he had already lost his home, his country and a member of his family.
Hamid, now 29, is a Rohingya human rights defender and community advocate from Ngan Chaung village in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State. He experienced the violence and mass displacement of 2017 before rebuilding his life in the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar.
Since then, he has worked in community health, documented reported abuses and helped connect Rohingya victims and survivors with human rights investigators. He says this work has also exposed him to abduction, physical abuse, a gun attack and continuing threats.
Despite the risks, Hamid remains committed to peaceful human rights advocacy.
Loss and Displacement
Before being forced from Myanmar, Hamid completed his education up to matriculation at a high school in Arakan.
As a child, he wanted to become a doctor. He had seen people in rural Rohingya communities suffer without adequate healthcare and hoped to provide medical services to his community.
Restrictions imposed on Rohingya in Myanmar, however, limited his educational opportunities. The violence of 2017 ended that ambition altogether.
Hamid said members of the Myanmar military detained his brother Yasin, then 38, from Ngan Chaung on 28 August 2017. According to Hamid, his brother was tortured and killed after being taken away.
The family’s home was also burned, forcing Hamid and his surviving family members to flee Myanmar. They eventually found shelter in the Kutupalong refugee settlement in Bangladesh.
Displacement interrupted Hamid’s education, but it did not end his desire to serve his community.
From Community Health to Human Rights Work
After arriving in Bangladesh, Hamid became involved in community activities. In March 2018, he joined Food for the Hungry, where he worked in community-based humanitarian services.
He later worked with Relief International from June 2023 to November 2024. From January 2025 to June 2026, he worked as a community health worker with the International Rescue Committee.
Hamid said his decision to work in community health was connected to his childhood ambition.
“Since childhood, I had a deep interest in becoming a doctor to provide services to my community,” he said. “Many people in my community died every year without proper health services because they lived in rural areas. Because of the restrictions imposed on Rohingya by the Myanmar government, I could not fulfil my dream. So I chose humanitarian organisations where I could at least serve my community.”
Alongside his humanitarian work, Hamid became involved in documenting reported human rights violations.
He worked as a human rights coordinator with the Rohingya Youth Association and later became involved with the Rohingya Youth Advocacy Network as a human rights and programme coordinator.
In July 2025, he joined the Arakan Rohingya National Council as a human rights and advocacy coordinator, a role he continues to hold.
Hamid said his work includes documenting alleged violations affecting Rohingya in the camps and in Arakan. He has also helped international human rights organisations reach Rohingya victims and survivors for interviews, research and investigations. The organisations are not identified here because some of those activities remain confidential.
“Every day, my vulnerable community faces significant challenges, denial of rights and human rights violations,” Hamid said. “That is why I chose to work as a human rights defender.”
Abducted and Held for Two Days
Hamid said his human rights activities have brought serious personal risks.
On 21 October 2023, according to his account, members of an unidentified armed group abducted him from the camp where he lived. He said they took him to another area and held him for two days.
During his detention, Hamid said he was physically abused and warned that he would be killed if he continued his human rights work.
The armed group is not identified in this article because of security concerns.
After his release, Hamid resumed his community activities. He continued participating in workshops and human rights training while documenting reported abuses.
He believed that stopping his work would leave vulnerable people with fewer opportunities to report what had happened to them.
Shot at a Coffee Shop
A more serious attack came on the night of 29 May 2024.
Hamid said he was at a coffee shop in the refugee camp at around 8 p.m., discussing community concerns and human rights issues with other residents.
According to his account, a large group of armed men approached the area. As Hamid stood up, one of them opened fire and a bullet struck him in the buttock.
People nearby initially thought he had been killed. Community members took him for emergency treatment after the attackers left.
Hamid said he spent 11 days receiving treatment at Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital and Chattogram Medical College Hospital. He retains medical documents related to his treatment.
According to Hamid, authorities investigated the shooting and a case was filed, but he has not received information about any conclusive outcome.
After recovering from his injury, he returned to his documentation and advocacy work.
Peaceful Advocacy Under Continuing Threat
Hamid describes his approach as peaceful and non-violent. He says his purpose is to document abuses, help victims reach relevant organisations and draw attention to violations that might otherwise remain unrecorded.
“I deeply believe that every person deserves human rights,” he said. “Human rights are the rights of everyone—without colour, religion, ethnicity, gender, race or status.”
The risks have not disappeared.
Hamid said that since 6 July 2026, he has received repeated warnings through phone calls and direct encounters. Those issuing the threats allegedly demanded that he stop documenting violations against vulnerable members of the Rohingya community.
The people or groups accused of making the threats are not named because of the continuing security risks.
Hamid nevertheless remains in the refugee camps and continues his work. He says he understands the danger but believes that silence would allow abuses to remain hidden.
His decision to continue comes after the killing of his brother, the destruction of his home, forced displacement and the violence he says he has personally experienced.
The Risks Faced by Local Defenders
Hamid’s experience points to the dangers faced by Rohingya human rights defenders working within their own displaced communities.
Local defenders may have direct access to victims, survivors and places that larger organisations cannot easily reach. They can help document incidents, preserve testimony and connect affected people with journalists, investigators and international organisations.
That access can also expose them to pressure from people who do not want alleged abuses documented.
Unlike staff working from offices outside the camps, community-based defenders often continue living close to the people or groups whose activities they report. The line between their public work and private safety can therefore become dangerously thin.
Hamid could have left human rights work after his abduction. He could have withdrawn after being shot. Instead, he chose to continue.
His story is not evidence that courage removes danger. It shows that some Rohingya advocates continue their work while fully aware of the possible consequences.
For Hamid, human rights advocacy is neither a call for revenge nor simply a profession. He describes it as a responsibility to document suffering, protect human dignity and help members of his community make their experiences known.
“Human rights are for everyone,” he said.
Hamid gave informed consent for his name and experiences to be published. Specific information that could further expose his location or identify confidential human rights activities has been withheld for security reasons.
This profile is based primarily on interviews with Hamid Hussain. The accounts concerning his brother’s killing, his abduction and subsequent threats are presented as his testimony. Hamid provided information about medical and official records connected to the 2024 shooting; not every circumstance described in the article could be independently verified.
