Knowledge for the excluded

An inclusive Myanmar must include all voices. One voice is from the Rohingya, who have faced persecution for many years. IDRC’s Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar supports scholars and research from and about the Rohingya people to generate evidence-based policy advice and empower a new generation of thought leaders.

Refugees at Cox’s Bazar used to rely on firewood to survive. Now they have access to gas through an initiative by international organisations, the Bangladesh government, and partners. The shift improved air quality in the camps, reduced risks for women who gathered wood, and helped rehabilitate the forests.

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The Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar (K4DM) initiative supports scholars to develop their knowledge and skills in leadership, public policy, federalism, applied social sciences, migration, digital rights and safety, and higher education.

Initially launched in 2017 by Global Affairs Canada and Canada’s International Development Research Centre, K4DM helped strengthen local research and analytical capacity of Myanmar scholars to address decades of systematic underinvestment in higher education and research. The military coup in February 2021 brought new setbacks and a second phase of K4DM was launched in 2022 to protect gains in Myanmar’s civil society and nurture a new generation of scholars for an inclusive Myanmar.

Every Rohingya person I’ve met is looking for a brighter future for themselves and their families. In today’s world, they need to have access to higher education.
Credit: Edgard Rodriguez, IDRC

Life in the camps

Cox’s Bazar is the world’s largest refugee camp, home to almost a million refugees. Here, seven scientists from the Asian University for Women (AUW) have been looking into issues the communities face, ranging from human-elephant conflict to child marriages.

Mosaddika Mounin (left) and her colleagues, Sadia Salim (middle) and Tahiya Tasnim (right), conducted their research at AUW’s Center for Climate Change and Environmental Health. The poster visualised two sides of life women face in pursuing education: on the left are difficulties including bullying, teasing, harassment, and kidnapping while the right side represents hope that education brings towards building a brighter tomorrow.

Mosaddika Mounin’s review of the education landscape for refugees at the camp can be adapted for refugees worldwide. She collected data from teachers, parents, and students at primary and secondary levels to assess the education environment, calibre of educators, the education path, and options for higher education, mapping out existing challenges with suggestions for enhancing refugee education and support mechanisms.

Parmin Fatema’s research sheds light on how this affects the community. Many interviewees believe the massive fires were acts of arson while smaller fires stem from overcrowding within the camp. The impact goes beyond physical damage as people interviewed have been traumatised and have a pervasive fear of recurring disasters.

Parmin Fatema (front) and Taslima Razak presenting their research on the impact of fires and indoor pollution.

Overcrowding also enables diseases to spread easily. Taslima Razzak studied the impact of indoor pollution and found levels of humidity, particles, and air quality surpassing the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, and a worrying correlation with respiratory ailments such as coughing, breathing difficulties, asthma, and tuberculosis and infectious skin conditions.

Nazifa Rafa examined energy access and the importance of empowering refugees to shape sustainable energy solutions in humanitarian efforts. Her interviews revealed how issues with food security, health, education, access to clean water, and gender inequalities impede progress towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and underscored the need for inclusive policies and interventions.

Elephant warning sign made of recycled plastic at a camp in Cox’s Bazar. Elephants need hundreds of kilos of vegetation each day and roam a large area in search of food and water, bringing them in conflict with humans.

The refugee camp was built near the natural habitat of endangered wild Asian elephants. Human needs for shelter have come at the price of deforestation, leading to human-elephant conflicts that resulted in serious injuries and deaths. In response, the Elephant Response Teams and Watchtowers were set up to warn people when elephants are nearby and to avoid them. While these are effective, Nafisa Islam’s research still shows a significant increase in conflicts since 2015.

WHO data shows that worldwide, a mother or mother-to-be dies every 2 minutes due to pregnancy or childbirth complications, with almost 95% occurring in low or lower-middle-income countries. Access to health professionals can mean life or death for the mother and baby. So what is it like in refugee camps? Omar Salma has been gathering information about where women choose to give birth, and why they made that decision. After speaking to about 400 women, she found that a substantial majority opted for home deliveries and a number of factors played into the decision, from socioeconomic status and education levels to accessibility of and trust in healthcare providers.

Looking further into the issue, Tofrida Rahaman talked to 400 adolescents and young adults about child marriage and teenage pregnancy. Despite seeing a decline in the past decade, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported that globally one in five girls have been married under the age of 18. At the camp, despite a high awareness of the legal marriage age and family planning, a significant majority of teenagers had already experienced pregnancy before turning 18. She learnt the reasons aggravating this is insecurity, poverty, and illiteracy compounded by cultural and social norms, family honour, and limited legal protection.

Center for Climate Change and Environmental Health (3CEH), Asian University for Women (AUW)
[email protected] 
asian-university.org


Displaced lives

To assist Rohingya students in their transition to higher education, K4DM partnered with a Myanmar non-governmental organisation and Parami University, a virtual university for Myanmar students, for a university preparation programme. The programme improved students' English and mathematical skills and enabled access and training on computer usage and set-ups for online interviews and classes. Upon acceptance to the university, students have a follow-up programme that includes mentorship, monthly counselling, and additional support to fill knowledge gaps.

In a focus group discussion, Rohingya students expressed their joy in being able to pursue their dreams of a university education and the support it brings. “We have each other. We have a community of young students like ourselves. We talk about our challenges but also our dreams. One day, we will meet each other and have a trip together.”

“Every Rohingya person I’ve met is looking for a brighter future for themselves and their families. In today’s world, they need to have access to higher education. Yet, few international donors or host countries have been able to fulfil this aspiration from young refugees,” says Edgard Rodriguez, Myanmar lead at IDRC’s Asia Regional Office.

Photo taken on a K4DM visit to Cox’s Bazar.

 

With other partners like Spring University Myanmar, K4DM supported a young policy fellows programme which has over 100 Myanmar students graduated from its online certificate course. In addition, The SecDev Foundation is diving into Myanmar’s digital space, focusing on areas ranging from education to cybercrime and security. Their research highlighted issues students and teachers face such as security constraints, cyberbullying, poor computing devices, and lack of electricity and internet connectivity, which are compounded by the digital divide across locations and gender. For example, some towns get access for up to 8 hours while ethnic regions have only 4 hours of power; meanwhile, women have also expressed more apprehension about being online.

 

SecDev Foundation
[email protected] 
secdev-foundation.org

Spring University Myanmar
[email protected] 
springuniversitymm.com

Parami University 
[email protected] 
Parami.edu.mm

Language is also a barrier as most resources are in English, further hindering access to knowledge. Inadequate classroom interaction is another issue since education entities are constantly monitored by the military. For personal safety, teachers and students turn off their webcams and conceal their real identities. However, this takes away teachers’ ability to see students’ facial expressions to monitor understanding, and the increased reliance on audio also means shyer students get left behind.

Additionally, K4DM partners are delving deeper into diplomacy, the mental health of refugees, and evolving public opinions. In 2025, Malaysia will assume Chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations with a pledge to enhance regional cooperation. Experts from the Asia-Europe Institute at University Malaya will be working with the Malaysian Advisory Group on Myanmar to advocate policies and potential diplomatic solutions. At Thailand’s Chiang Mai University, Nyi Nyi Kyaw, former IDRC Research Chair on Forced Displacement in Southeast Asia, has been looking into the mental health of Rohingya refugees. Meanwhile, researchers at Universitas Indonesia’s Asian Research Center have supported Rohingya scholars continuing their research and will be analysing shifting public attitudes towards Rohingya refugees in Muslim-majority Indonesia and Malaysia, countries once perceived as safe havens for Rohingya people. 

 

Prof Johan Saravanamuttu 
[email protected] 
Prof and Exec Dir Rajah Rasiah 
[email protected]
Asia-Europe Institute

Dr Nyi Nyi Kyaw
[email protected] 
University of Bristol

Dr Hurriyah
[email protected] 
Asia Research Centre Universitas Indonesia 


Rohingya scholars advocating in Canada

In 2012, John Jonaid was studying Physics at Sittwe University in Myanmar when violence erupted which saw his friends and family killed. Overnight, John became a refugee fleeing Rakhine state, moving to India, China, Indonesia, and Malaysia. He finally settled in Canada as a journalist and human rights advocate after a decade searching for freedom. Under a K4DM fellowship, Jonaid continued voicing the plight of the Rohingya people at The Parliamentary Centre, Canada’s premier non-governmental organisation dedicated to supporting inclusive democracy globally, even as his public writings and talks continue to put his family in danger.

Jonaid also co-founded The Archipelago Magazine and the Humans in Flight project, a platform for refugees to narrate their journeys, and has published articles in international media like the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), and Al Jazeera. He is currently in a graduate programme at Carleton University researching elements connected with migration and diaspora in a globally connected world.

Fearing for his life, Jaivet Ealom left Myanmar in 2013 and travelled through six countries seeking asylum. He is the only person known to have successfully escaped from Australia’s Manus Island Detention Centre, detailed in his book “Escape from Manus Prison: One man’s daring quest for freedom.” Now based in Toronto, he was a K4DM fellow at the Myanmar Policy and Community Knowledge (MyPACK) Hub at the University of Toronto’s Asian Institute. Having recently graduated in political science and economics, he is the interim CEO at the Rohingya Centre of Canada and is currently working with a group to form the Rohingya Consultative Council. He serves as an advisor to the Ministry of Human Rights at the National Unity Government of Myanmar. 

"Right is right, and wrong is wrong, no matter the timing. If we refuse to stand for what is right because it’s inconvenient, then we betray the very idea of the new Myanmar we claim to fight for." - Jaivet Ealom, K4DM fellow writing in Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB)

If someone sees the Rohingya’s old photos, those photos will tell him or her the history of the Rohingya. How they looked. How their culture looked. When these things are seen, their understanding of the Rohingya will be awakened. - Rohingya elder, on Ek Khaale

Ek Khaale, the Rohingya expression for “Once Upon A Time,” is a storytelling and visual restoration project launched in 2021 by photographer Greg Constantine. He has worked with Rohingya youth and elders to expose the unseen past from old photographs, family collections, documents, letters, and illustrations combined with historical materials from a variety of public and private archives. With support from K4DM, Ek Khaale has been presented and exhibited in Thailand and Canada in a series which engaged the public, policymakers, students, and Myanmar communities, providing opportunities for shared Myanmar narratives.

 

John Jonaid 
Linkedin /john-jonaid/

Jaivet Ealom 
Linkedin /jaivet

Greg Constantine 
[email protected]
ekkhaale.org

 


Further information

Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar (K4DM ) initiative 
[email protected] 
International Development Research Centre (IDRC)


K4DM is an initiative of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in partnership with Global Affairs Canada.

Asia Research News is K4DM's communications consultant.

Published: 24 Jan 2025

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