In August of 2017, the violent offensive in Myanmar began.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims were forced to flee across the border into
Bangladesh as the country’s army launched a brutal crackdown on a group described by
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as "one of, if not the, most discriminated people
in the world". Villages were burned to the ground and thousands
were killed in the month that followed. Reports from Amnesty International claimed that Rohingya
women and girls were raped by the Myanmar military.
“A vicious cycle of persecution, discrimination, radicalisation and violent repression has
led more than 400,000 desperate people to flee, putting regional stability at risk,”
read a UN report in September 2017. That number has grown significantly since then.
It was, according to the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein, “a
textbook example of ethnic cleansing”. This oppression is not new. The Rohingya people,
most of whom lived in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, have been the victims of discrimination
and genocide for decades. Since the 1970s, they have been forced out of their home country,
mostly into neighbouring Bangladesh and India. The Myanmar government views the Rohingya
as illegal immigrants, a Muslim minority in a predominantly Buddhist country.
The influx of refugees has been overwhelming for Bangladesh and India. Multiple refugee
camps have been set up in Bangladesh, dotted around the country. Thousands of Rohingya
live in each of them, but the largest, by a distance, is Kutupalong, now home to over
600,000 refugees. The situation is still volatile. Rakhine state
remains home to more than half a million Rohingya, and there is a danger that they will be targeted
in the years to come. Bangladesh, meanwhile, announced in March 2019 that they would no
longer allow Rohingya into the country. For those living in the Kutupalong camp, life
is difficult. Makeshift huts, formed of tarpaulin and bamboo, stretch for miles. There is a
shortage of food and of medicine; children have no education and each day is a struggle.
Some solace has been found in football, though. There is a pitch at the top of a hill in Kutupalong,
where more and more refugees have discovered an invaluable form of entertainment and distraction.
It is here that the idea to hold a football tournament began. The Rohingya FA Cup, planned
to take place within the next year, will bring together 16 teams from Kutupalong. But to
acquire the necessary resources and equipment for the tournament, funds need to be raised.
A GoFundMe campaign set up by Paul Watson, a former football coach and the founder of
the CONIFA World Football Cup in 2018, has proved a success. The original target of £2,000
was quickly surpassed, but that has since been increased to £3,000 in order to afford
kits for the players involved. To the delight of the Rohingya refugees taking
part in the tournament, there has been support from all over the world.
“In a way I haven't been surprised, because I have such faith in the number of good people
across social media and generally in the sports world,” Watson told Tifo. “I've met and
been helped by so many fantastic, generous people when putting projects like this together
over the years and I think football can bring out the best in people. When you forget the
multi-millionaires and the business of the Premier League, the football world is a very
welcoming space. “The hope is that this tournament will be
a success and become an annual event” he continued.
“Alongside the tournament I'd like to see wider events, like coaching clinics, helping
teachers learn to put on football sessions, guest speakers. But first we need to make
this one a success.” All the signs suggest it will be. Teams have
already been put together, amongst them Brothers Unite football team and Demand Kings. Both
sets of players have been pictured wearing Juventus’ shirts, looks of determination
and focus on their faces. No one will be taking this tournament lightly.
Amongst those most involved in the organisation of the tournament is Mohammed Zobair, who
has lived in the Kutupalong camp since 1992 when he was forced to flee Myanmar with his
family as a young boy. His father was killed by the military, and he has spent the last
28 years of his life consigned to an area originally designed as a temporary solution.
“Refugees feel useless in the world. There’s no peace, no happiness, no entertainment,”
Zobair told Tifo. “My parents’ life ended here, my life will end here and the next generation’s
life will end here. It is truly boring.” Football, then, has proved a vital diversion.
It has allowed the refugees involved to get regular exercise and to make friends with
others living in Kutupalong. “Helping create some small moment of happiness
and something to look forward to for the Rohingya refugee players is really important,” says
Watson. “It also shows them that the world is watching and does care because many feel
isolated and ignored in their suffering. But beyond that it's also hopefully going to give
a human face to something reported widely in the foreign media and helps people abroad
see that these Rohingya players are footballers like anywhere in the world, not just faceless
victims.” Playing football has proved comforting for
Rohingya refugees elsewhere too: Rohingya Football Club India have thrived since forming
in 2012, and there is a national team, founded in January 2015, which is a member of CONIFA.
The sport will not be the solution to the Rohingya crisis, nor will it eradicate the
challenges hundreds of thousands of refugees face every day. Life remains uncertain for
the occupants of the Kutupalong camp. As Zobair puts it: "Football won't change
our situation, but it will change the way we look at it."