The world of Tzu Chi June 2021 (Vol.135)

2021 • 06 24 eature I want to go home Ali (alias), a Rohingya, was among the refugees who fled from Myanmar in 2017. Ali left his hometown and spent 16 days at sea. Beating a torrential journey marked by starvation and uncertainty, he finally arrived in Malaysia. Here, he shares his harrowing experience and his hopes for the future. O n the night of January 22, 2017, my younger brother and I, together with over 140 fellow villagers, boarded a small wooden boat. We were surrounded by darkness. Gripped by fear and uncertainty, we could only take a giant leap of faith. Within our raging hearts, we knew nothing was more urgent than the compelling instinct to survive. We were persecuted in our hometown. Young boys, strong men, and educated people were all targets of militants. Those soldiers could shoot and beat us whenever they liked. We lived in fear—every minute, every second—and safety was an elusive dream. Human sanity tells us that nobody would choose to be separated from their own children, and risk the possibility of never seeing them again. Yet, however painful it is, we must do it. For our future, and our children’s. My parents sold our family’s belongings and properties to pay a human trafficker a whopping fee of RM28,000 so that we could get on the boat. My parents and sister, on the other hand, had to flee to Bangladesh because of insufficient funds. Was it wrong to flee? Before I got on the boat, I thought that fleeing to Malaysia was the only way out. As long as we could enter the country, we would be able to survive. But the moment I got on the boat, I realized I was terribly wrong! There was nothing on the boat. Not even the most basic of human needs, let alone any safety. The boat was overloaded, like a forgotten log floating in the vast sea. Whenever it rained, I felt like the boat was going to be swept to the bottom of the sea! It was only equipped with an engine with 22 horsepower. All we could do was to pray, and yes, to leave our fate to the Almighty. In retrospect, we survived not only by willpower but also by God’s blessing. Before boarding the boat, we had prepared seven days of food for ourselves. According to the plan, we should arrive in Thailand within seven days and then walk on foot to reach Malaysia. However, when we arrived in Thailand, the law enforcement officers would not let us go ashore. Strained and stranded, staying afloat was the only sensible option. Translated by Jilly Bong