Iran opens Myanmar Muslim refugee expo

The Iranian Photographers Center (IPC) of the Art Bureau in Tehran has opened an exhibition of photos portraying tenderness and trouble the Myanmar Muslim refugees suffer.

Opened on Monday, the exhibition titled ‘Border of Loneliness’ has put photos of Noor Alam and Suman Paul, two photographers from Bangladesh, on display.

They have documented the harsh moments experienced by the Myanmar refugees while passing the border fleeing to Bangladesh as well as their lives in camps and handmade shelters on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.

“Alam and Paul were commissioned by his center to prepare the collection after the IPC held talks with different Bangladeshi photographers,” IPC director Ehsan Baqeri said delivering speech at the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

He also noted that “We agreed that they would approach the border and take photos preferably in black and white to better convey the pain and bitter feelings of the refugees, with some portraits on the highlight.”

Attending the opening ceremony, Alam said he has seen the runaway of more than half a million Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar to Bangladesh, adding that the children and the elderly have suffered the highest levels of misery and distress.

I only want to help the cry of the oppressed people of Myanmar be heard in the world, the photographer also noted.

The exhibition’s opening ceremony was attended by a large number of photographers and officials, including the Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia-Pacific Affairs Ebrahim Rahimpour.

Since October 2016, Myanmar’s government has laid a siege to the western state of Rakhine, home to  Rohingya Muslims.

Horrific violence, including killing, rape and torching property, has been taking place against the minority Muslims living there. The attacks have seen a sharp rise since August 25, 2017.

Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence and persecution in their home country of Myanmar continue to arrive in Bangladesh. Thousands of the displaced people, many sick and wounded, have been stranded or left without enough food for weeks.

MG/MF