Omal Khair
Photographer
Omal was born in 2003 in southern Maungdaw in Rakhine State, Myanmar. In 1996, her father was deported from Yangon for being Rohingya and sent to the village where he was born. As a result, her family was separated until 2012, when her mother and siblings were allowed to join her father permanently. She attended primary and secondary school in her village and joined the Alay Than Kyaw High School. Omal wanted to study medicine but could not complete her studies because her village was set on fire and she had to flee with her family to Bangladesh in August 2017.
In the refugee camp, she gave up her dream to become a doctor and started to work with BRAC and the Red Cross to support her family. She did an online photography course and regained a childhood passion. She became a media fellow with Fortify Rights and the Doha Debates and regularly shares her images of the Rohingya community on social media, highlighting daily life in the refugee camp. She is the co-author of A Chance To Breathe, a photobook published by Fortify Rights and PhotoEvidence.