Amnesty supporters gather in Waterloo to write for rights

WATERLOO — International Human Rights Day, which was marked Saturday, has special meaning for Anwar Arkani.

After his father was murdered in 1978, Arkani fled through the jungles of Burma (now called Myanmar) along with his mother and 300,000 other refugees to Bangladesh. It was a two-day walk, and only the beginning of a 24-year-long journey that ended in Canada.

"My father was killed by the Burmese Junta," Arkani said. "I had no idea where I was going, what I was going to do, how I was going to survive. I was a kid."

Arkani is a Rohingya Muslim and suffered all manner of persecution at the hands of the Buddhist majority in Burma. When it looked like conditions were going to improve for the Rohingya, Arkani sneaked back into the country.

But his hopes were dashed in 1982 when the military junta stripped Rohingya Muslims of citizenship. He was declared an "illegal" in his own country, and could not even attend school.

"After I finished my Grade 8 exam I was not permitted to go to Grade 9," Arkani said.

So Arkani spent 30 days travelling secretly across Burma — in boats, on foot, riding in vehicles — to reach Thailand. He was 14 years old and terrified.

He lived in Thailand for 10 years, working as a street pedlar on the crowded sidewalks of Bangkok, and finally landed in Canada in 2002 as a refugee. (Courtesy of therecord.com)

For more information - Visit here.