Suzanne and Ruth are joined by Mayyu Ali, a Rohingya refugee, poet, and author of EXODUS. In 2017, he was forced to flee his home due to the violence perpetrated by the Myanmar military, in which his home and village were burnt down. He and his parents escaped to Bangladesh and he spent 5 years living in Cox's Bazar refugee camp. He is now one of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya survivors haunted by stories of gang rape, mass killings and arson attacks, that prompted the world's fastest exodus since the Rwanda genocide in 1994. His powerful and moving poetry collection, ‘EXODUS’, depicts the true horror and despair the Rohingya have faced at the hands of the Myanmar military for decades. Here Mayyu Ali tells his story of evading military forces by crossing the border to the refugee camps of Bangladesh, recalls the harrowing stories of other refugees caught up in the military's genocidal campaign, and talks about the special significance his writing has held for him throughout his experiences.

The ah nah: Conversations with Myanmar podcast was born from a desire to bring into public consciousness the atrocities that are currently being committed in Myanmar (also known as Burma). Our goal is simply to keep the conversation going, and to let the people of Myanmar know that they have not been forgotten. You can continue to support the people of Myanmar by keeping this conversation going. You can subscribe to this podcast on all major podcasting apps, including Apple, Spotify and Acast. You can also follow us on all our social media pages, linked below. If you’d like to reach out, please email us or fill out this form to add your voice to the conversation (https://tinyurl.com/3ee7ssm9).

Credits:

Song: Kabar Makyay Bu (Until the End of the World), was written and recorded by Naing Myanmar, it became the revolutionary anthem of the 1988 pro-democracy movement and could be heard once again all over Myanmar during the 2021 Coup. Naing Myanmar maintains that the song is no longer his, since the '88 uprising “it belongs to everyone”.

Graphics: SelinaXin

Sound Effects: https://mixkit.co

*Special thanks to Mayuu Ali for sharing his story with us. We are in continuous awe of his strength and bravery in the face of such horror. We are so grateful to Mayyu Ali for adding his voice to the conversation, we highly recommend his powerful and moving collection of poetry: EXODUS. 

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