Trauma, Resilience & Hope – Stories from the Rohingya
BRAC is bringing the Rohingya Crisis to the centre of European democracy this week by hosting an exhibition at the European Parliament building in Brussels on Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th January.
The exhibition, featuring artwork from British artist Hannah Rose Thomas and the #SpaceOnEarth campaign by Ogilvy, shines a spotlight on the crisis so that policy makers do not forget the Rohingya community, over 800,000 of whom have been forced out of Myanmar and into the Cox’s Bazar area of Bangladesh since August 2017.
Baroness Mobarik, Conservative MEP for Scotland, in association with the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, sponsored the exhibition.
Hannah’s portraits tell the experiences of seven Rohingya women who were doubly vulnerable and targeted due to both their gender and their religious beliefs. Ogilvy’s #SpaceOnEarth campaign sends a message to the World directly from Rohingya children; that surely there must be some space on earth for them to live and experience childhood without fear of persecution.
Hannah Rose Thomas said, “dehumanization has been used to justify genocidal violence throughout history. It is essential to recognise our shared humanity and that we have more in common than what divides us. Through these portraits I hope to bring the women at the centre of the crisis to the attention of policy makers and help to tell their stories.”
Natalie Lyall, Head of Group Communications Asia Pacific at Ogilvy, said “We want to give the Rohingya children a voice. A chance for them to tell their stories in the hope that decision makers will come together to find a solution. They have suffered unimaginable atrocities and deserve a place they can truly call home.”