With little to spare themselves, Rohingya refugees are among those in Bangladesh sending money, blankets and clothing to earthquake survivors in Turkey and Syria.
The images of destroyed homes and grieving families resonated with Rohingya expelled by the Myanmar military, prompting online organisation and volunteers walking through the vast refugee camps in Bangladesh collecting donations.
Reports have emerged of people selling their last piece of gold or donating what little cash they could, as Rohingya have rallied together and bought about 700 blankets and 200 jackets which will be delivered by Turkish development agency, Tika.
“When we saw the families being saved from the rubble, parents who lost their loved ones, little babies who lost their parents, people struggling for food and shelter, we felt the same pain as our own situation in 2017 after our homes were burnt by the Myanmar military,” said Sahat Zia Hero, a Rohingya photographer and activist, who helped organise the donations.
“We felt that it was a call for us to show our solidarity towards our brothers and sisters in Turkey and Syria and to share their pain with us.”
He said many remembered that Turkish charities were some of the first to help the Rohingya as they fled the massacres in 2017.
Close to a million Rohingya now live in Bangladesh, in the world’s largest refugee settlement, where they are unable to work or travel. Most were unable to bring many of their belongings from Myanmar; those who did mostly had to give them to boatmen in exchange for help crossing the border.
Amina Khatoun, 56, did have something to sell – a gold bracelet kept for emergencies. The money raised bought boxes of food, clothes, blankets and baby food.
She lives in India, having fled violence in Myanmar. In 2018 she lost her shelter in New Delhi to a fire that razed an entire Rohingya refugee settlement, but the images of the earthquake moved her.
My mother wanted send support for people in #Turkey. She didn’t had money so she sold her golden bangle that she saved for family emergency. She says, Turkey has been with Rohingya people whenever we faced emergency, we must stand with Turkey in this destitute time. @TurkEmbDelhi pic.twitter.com/cKQUd92MIW
— Ali Johar (မောင်သိန်းရွှေ) (@mtsjohar) February 11, 2023
“I know how it feels to lose everything. The people of Turkey stood with us whenever we faced an emergency; Turkey has built hospitals in the Bangladesh refugee camps,” she said.
Her son, Ali Johar, a Rohingya activist, tweeted about his mother’s decision because he thought it was inspiring and might encourage other Rohingya to donate.
Şevki Mert Bariş, Tika’s Bangladesh coordinator, said: “We are very happy to see the Bangladeshi people’s wholehearted support for us during this immense crisis, and it’s a great pleasure to see the donations from the Rohingya refugees.”
Baris said up to eight tons of disaster relief is being sent from Bangladesh to Turkey alongside teams to help with the rescue efforts.
The death toll from last week’s Turkey-Syria earthquakes is nearing 42,000. Turkish authorities say 36,187 people have been killed in the country. The Syrian government and the UN say more than 5,800 people have died in Syria.
