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Ro Arfat Khan was born in 2000, in Aung Seik Pyin village, northern Maungdaw, Arakan state, Myanmar. Arfat forcibly fled to Bangladesh with his family due to persecution, discrimination, and a violent crackdown by the Myanmar military in August 2017. Currently, he lives in a refugee camp in Bangladesh.

 

"The journey was a really hard and traumatic experience. We walked for days to escape the military through paddy fields and jungles to we finally crossed the Bay of Bengal." —he explained.

 

For decades, the Rohingya community has faced extreme violence, rape, persecution, and other atrocities in their native country. They have been targeted for ethnic cleansing, mass killings, and the burning down of their villages in Arakan State. Ultimately, more than one million Rohingya refugees, the majority of whom are children, women, and the elderly, have crossed the border into Bangladesh in 2017. Among them is Arfat Khan's family, who have witnessed these harrowing events. They have received emergency lifesaving assistance, including food, water, healthcare, and shelter after fled in Bangladesh, but they have been denied access to higher education and other basic human rights with limited resources.

 

Arfat worked as a volunteer in NGOs such as Médecins Sans Frontières as a humanitarian worker from 2018 to 2020 and ActionAid Bangladesh as a team leader from 2020 to 2021. He also worked at Translators Without Borders (TWB) as an analytical researcher in 2021, focusing on the Rohingya social media usage. Additionally, he currently works at COAST Foundation as a Rohingya secondary school teacher, as part of the UNICEF Education Programme based on Myanmar curriculum in the refugee camps in Bangladesh.

 

Since 2018, he takes part in photography and visual storytelling with a smartphone through social media platforms, conveying untold narratives, documenting the daily lives, artworks, traditional practices, innovative ways of creativity, and struggles of the Rohingya people.

 

"In 2023, I joined the Rohingyatographer Collective, giving a true source to tell the stories and share the daily lives of the Rohingya refugees. I collaborate with fellow photographers, exchanging ideas and supporting one another in our mission to create meaningful change. I have witnessed countless stories within the Rohingya community that deserve the world's attention. Through my lens, I have found a voice for social change and a means of raising awareness that transcends language barriers and connect with people from around the world, break stereotypes, and promote a deeper understanding of the Rohingya community." —Arfat explained

 

"Through my lens, I found a voice for social change and a means of raising awareness that transcends language barriers and connects with the world outside the refugee camps. My passion is dedicated to capturing the stories and struggles of the Rohingya refugees. There are many stories and creative works that the world should know about the Rohingya community." —he explained.