Arakan News Agency | exclusive
As violence surges inside Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, a number of Rohingya girls have resorted to learning Taekwondo, supported by their families, as a tool of self-defense against violence and crime against women.
Some Rohingya female trainees told Arakan News Agency ANA, that learning a similar sport earlier could have helped protecting hundreds of Rohingya women against physical and sexual assaults they were subjected to in Arakan by Myanmar army and Arakan Army separatist group before displacement.
Rohingya Taekwondo trainer, Mohamed Salim, 45, observes training tens of Rohingya girls and boys in his club in Cox’s Bazar camps in Bangladesh. He asserts that sport provides girls with protection and protect boys from involving in crimes of other illegal activities.
Salim told ANA that his Arakan Rohingya Taekwondo Club currently includes 38 trainees, 17 of them are girls including his daughter Nasima, 16, who was keen to train her since she was only four years old.
“Our club has strict rules and timetable, who joins mustn’t join any criminal activities. I encourage all Rohingyas to open Taekwondo clubs as it is of great benefit for our community”, Salim who has been in the sport for 21 years, states.
Salim says that his daughter Nasima, who made great progress in the sport and is getting ready to obtain the red belt, trains and supports girls in the club, as he takes part in teaching them whenever his help is needed.
Taekwondo, girls’ weapon
Several Rohingya female trainees told ANA that learning a self-defense sport such as Taekwondo could have helped protecting Rohingya girls and mothers against violence and violations in Arakan. For them, they assert, Taekwondo isn’t just a sport, it is a legal and internationally acclaimed sport that stands for self-defense, self-respect and empowerment, hoping to win medals which they say will be a great accomplishment for Rohingya community.
Rojina Akter, 14, told ANA that sha started learning Taekwondo to defend herself. “I live in camps, and I learn Taekwondo because I want to defend myself and that is why I love the sport. Taekwondo makes me feel safe, sometimes it is difficult, but my trainer Nasima supports me so much”, she adds.
“I have been learning Taekwondo for 4 months and I aim to be a good trainer someday and teach all my community. It isn’t easy but I insist on going till the end and I get help from my father Mohamed Salim and sister and trainer Nasima”, Shomshida Bibi, 9, told ANA.
Nasima, who learnt the sport since she was a little kid and trains several girls now said that teaching Taekwondo to girls makes the Rohingya community a lot better. “Taekwondo is very important for females given violence they encounter here. If we have gained such experiences earlier, we could have protected ourselves and flee more safely during crackdown of Myanmar army and Arakan army years ago”, she said.
Nasima is very grateful for the support she gets from her father, family and community. They say that if Nasima can be a Taekwondo trainer, then why don’t we enroll our girls too? They believe that sport is necessary, and they respect what she does.
She asserted her desire to continue in the sport as she competed internationally and gained a medal and trophy and proudly displayed them to her family and community.
Huge Setbacks
Salim told ANA that there are huge difficulties concerning teaching Taekwondo to Rohingya in camps, including lack of support and the limited training space, which prevents schools from accepting more students and sometimes forces them to reject female students.
“We appeal to the government of Bangladesh, the Rohingya Rehabilitation Commission, the Immigration and Refugee Commission, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the international community to support us in establishing a larger training center”, he said.
The Rohingya trainer explained that he aspires to hire international Taekwondo trainers to benefit from their expertise and help issuing certificates to students and accredit their skills, he appealed to NGOs and international organizations to support the Rohingya in this regard.
“Unfortunately, because we are Rohingya refugees, we can’t issue certificates, only international trainers can accredit our skills. Since 2019, I have trained between 2,600 and 2,700 students across the refugee camps, and we need support for our efforts and skills.”
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh face multiple risks, most notably the prevalence of kidnappings for ransom. Rohingya women were subjected to widespread sexual assault as part of the Myanmar military’s “Genocide” against the Rohingya in 2017, which forced hundreds of thousands of them to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.
More than one million Rohingya refugees currently live in the Cox’s Bazar area of Bangladesh, fleeing violence and persecution in Myanmar. The numbers increased significantly following the renewed violence and persecution against them since the Arakan Army launched a military campaign to seize control of Arakan in November 2023. The United Nations describes Cox’s Bazar as the largest refugee camp in the world.
