First, They Erased our Name: A Rohingya Speaks

with Habiburahman / chaired by Alice Pung

AUSTRALIA

“This is my chance to speak for my people, who continue to suffer, but who are voiceless.” Rohingya Habiburahman was three years old when the Burmese Government declared his people were not part of the country’s recognised “national races”. Overnight, he became stateless in his own country and the Rohingya have suffered extreme and brutal persecution ever since. First, They Erased Our Name is an urgent, first-hand account of genocide in motion – the heartbreaking personal story behind a vicious campaign of oppression and humanitarian crisis.

Participants

Habiburahman, known as Habib, is a Rohingya. Born in 1979 in Burma (now Myanmar), he escaped torture, persecution, and detention in his country, fleeing first to neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia, where he faced further discrimination and violence, and then to Australia, by boat. Habib spent 32 months in detention centres before being released. He now lives in Melbourne, where he collaborated with Sophie Ansel to write his memoir, First, They Erased Our Name, the first first-person account of the oppression of the Rohingya.

Alice Pung is an award-winning author whose books include Unpolished Gem, Her Father's Daughter and Close to Home. She edited the anthologies Growing up Asian in Australia and My First Lesson, and is currently the writer in residence at Janet Clarke Hall at the University of Melbourne.

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WHEN

Mon 02 Mar, 10:45am

WHERE

Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden
West Stage

DURATION

1 hr

NOTE

For the podcast of this session click here.

ACCESS

Wheelchair accessible

First, They Erased our Name: A Rohingya Speaks

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