17-year-old Rohingya survived death, but now carries a lifetime of physical scars and unending mental suffering.
- Ahtaram Shin
- Sep 4
- 3 min read
Words by Atharam Shin. Photos by Md Hossein.
17-year-old Anamul Hason, the son of Karimullaj, raised in Maung Ni village of Maungdaw, now combats physical and mental death everyday after the concussive injury in the bullets of the Arakan Army.
Like many Rohingya boys his age, he should have been worrying about school, friends, and the future but now he is fighting dead to life, just a mere survival. Anamul was the son of a poor family, unable to attend school after the village school shut down following the 2017 conflicts. He worked alongside his father in the fields and at a small bamboo shop. A boy who once led a simple life, his world was torn apart on the night of August 2024, when clashes between the Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar military reached his village.
Hundreds of Rohingya families had gathered in ward 2 (Foyazipara) near the Naf River, seeking a safe place from the conflicts. But it wasn't safe at all for them. The AA targeted the gathering with drone strikes, unleashing bullets and explosions into the crowd where over 200 people died and 300 injured. Among them, Anamul was one of the teenagers who became separated from his family.
He was near the river when drone strike and gunfire rained down towards the crowd, two bullets hit him in the lower body of the glute area. Bleeding heavily and unable to move, he believed he was about to die.
I knew that a potential force hit my body and fell down. I didn't know what happened to me and where I was later, Anamul said.
A boat carried him across the river to Lal Diya, where he laid for ten days, gravely wounded iand far from his family without treatment. His relatives got information about his injury and alive later. Then they paid 25,000 BDT to the rescue boatmen, and managed to bring him to the Teknaf sea side.
A Rohingya photographer named Hossein, who had been documenting the displacement, risked his own safety to take Anamul through secret paths from the sea-side to the MSF hospital in Kutupalong.
He looked almost dead and concussion,” Hossein stated. I had to work hard to bring him from the sea through the secret pathway as the border was closed by the authority.
Anamul remained in MSF’s care for three months. His wounds were deep, and while doctors managed to save his life, the healing has been slow and incomplete. Even now, his injuries cause him pain, and the scars of that night are far from healed. The doctor warned that he would need continuous treatment otherwise he would have seizures and would face psychological issues.
Now the greater battle is inside his mind as the doctor remarked. The shooting left him traumatized by fear, nightmares, and sudden panic at loud noises. He is also facing epileptic seizure.
His injury was so severe and now he isn't getting well completely. His wound is not getting better. Now Anamul became mental. Suddenly he falls down, shakes violently, loses consciousness, and has fluid or foam coming out of the mouth.
He abuses and scolds people around him, said Hossein.
Once a hopeful teenager, Anamul now combats tonic-clonic seizure, anxiety, and disconnection from the world around him. He has no support for physical and mental health at his young age.
The oppression not only stole his health but also his sense of safety and mental stability permanently. Living in camps under constant uncertainty, with ongoing conflict across the border, has deepened his fear, trauma and lifelessness.
He is one of many young Rohingya whose lives have been permanently scarred by cruelty towards the Rohingya. Military junta and AA damage is not only physical, but also the deeply psychological health of Rohingya for decades. Yet impunity persists, and justice has not been restored.
I don’t know what benefit this story might bring him, but I wrote it because it matters. Perhaps, through these words, this young boy may find the support he truly needs.
