Myanmar is in the midst of a refugee crisis. There is a region in the country of Myanmar called the Rakhine state. In this state, there is a group of local residents called Rohingyas. The Rohingya are a minority population in Myanmar. They are Muslim and have their own culture within Myanmar. The Myanmar government fails to give these people basic human rights, and there have been military attacks on innocent civilian Rohingya people. They do this largely because Myanmar is a Buddhist country and does not recognize the Muslim people living there as citizens, which is downright wrong. However, the Myanmar government claims that they are taking down threats to the country when in reality they are burning the villages of innocent Rohingya people. To escape the persecution of their population, Rohingya people have gone to neighboring countries for safety, such as Malaysia.
The UNHCR, a United Nations (UN) agency specifically for refugees, has some programs in place in Malaysia to help provide resources for refugees who are mostly from Myanmar. One such place in my city is the NTA School for Refugee Children. This school is for the children of refugees who are not allowed to get a public education due to Malaysian laws, so they go to school here to learn! I have been volunteering after school there. The kids range in age from seven years old to 16 years old.
UPLift Prompt: While this is an awesome UN organization, there is still so much more work that can be done to help refugee children.
